title: Robust Microcompartments with Hydrophobically Gated Shells.
abstract: We report on robust synthetic microcompartments with hydrophobically gated shells that can reversibly swell and contract multiple times upon external stimuli. The gating mechanism relies on a hydrophilic-hydrophobic transition of a polymer layer that is grafted on inorganic colloidosomes using atom-transfer radical polymerization. As a result of such a transition, the initially tight hydrophobic shell becomes permeable to the diffusion of hydrophilic solutes across the microcompartment walls. Surprisingly, the microcompartments are strong enough to retain their spherical shape during several swelling and contraction cycles. This provides a powerful alternative platform for the creation of synthetic microreactors and protocells that interact with the surrounding media through a simple gating mechanism and are sufficiently robust for further engineering of increasingly complex compartmentalized structures.
authors.affiliation: †Complex Materials, and ‡Laboratory for Interfaces, Soft Matter and Assembly, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jonathan S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Sander
authors.affiliation: †Complex Materials, and ‡Laboratory for Interfaces, Soft Matter and Assembly, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steinacher
authors.affiliation: †Complex Materials, and ‡Laboratory for Interfaces, Soft Matter and Assembly, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Eve
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Loiseau
authors.affiliation: †Complex Materials, and ‡Laboratory for Interfaces, Soft Matter and Assembly, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ahmet F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Demirörs
authors.affiliation: †Complex Materials, and ‡Laboratory for Interfaces, Soft Matter and Assembly, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zanini
authors.affiliation: †Complex Materials, and ‡Laboratory for Interfaces, Soft Matter and Assembly, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lucio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Isa
authors.affiliation: †Complex Materials, and ‡Laboratory for Interfaces, Soft Matter and Assembly, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: André R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Studart
mesh_terms: D004058:Diffusion; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008689:Methacrylates / Q000737:chemistry*; D009757:Nylons / Q000737:chemistry*; D058105:Polymerization
chemical_list: D008689:Methacrylates; D009757:Nylons; C407037:poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)