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Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Using the Droplet Transfer Method to Reliably Prepare Giant Unilamellar Vesicles
Published on: September 19, 2025
Controlled transformation from nanorods to vesicles induced by cyclomaltoheptaoses (β-cyclodextrins)
Tao Sun1, Huacheng Zhang, Li Kong
1School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Key Laboratory of Colloid and Interface Chemistry of Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, PR China.
Abstract:
A modified cyclomaltoheptaose (β-cyclodextrin) containing an anthraquinone moiety, mono[6-deoxy-N-n-hexylamino-(N'-1-anthraquinone)]-β-cyclodextrin (1), which can self-assemble into nanorods in aqueous solution, was synthesized. Interestingly, upon the addition of natural cyclodextrin, the nanorods could transform into bilayer vesicles, which were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and epi-fluorescence microscopy (EFM). A transformation mechanism is suggested based on the results of (1)H NMR, 2D NMR ROESY, FTIR, and UV-vis spectra. The response of the vesicles to changing pH and adding Cu(2+) was also tested. Our research may pave the way to the development of new intelligent materials and biomaterials.
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