Polymer vesicles with a colloidal armor of nanoparticles.
The fabrication of polymer vesicles with a colloidal armor made from a variety of nanoparticles is demonstrated. In addition, it is shown that the armored supracolloidal structure can be postmodified through film-formation of soft polymer latex particles on the surface of the polymersome, hereby effectively wrapping the polymersome in a plastic bag, as well as through formation of a hydrogel by disintegrating an assembled polymer latex made from poly(ethyl acrylate-co-methacrylic acid) upon increasing the pH. Furthermore, ordering and packing patterns are briefly addressed with the aid of Monte Carlo simulations, including patterns observed when polymersomes are exposed to a binary mixture of colloids of different size.
Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
Rong
R
Chen
Daniel J G
DJ
Pearce
Sara
S
Fortuna
David L
DL
Cheung
Stefan A F
SA
Bon