Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2026

Synthesis of Ionic Liquid Based Electrolytes, Assembly of Li-ion Batteries, and Measurements of Performance at High Temperature
Published on: December 20, 2016
Zwitterionic polymersomes in an ionic liquid: room temperature TEM characterization
Raghavendra R Maddikeri1, Semra Colak, Samuel P Gido
1Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Conte Research Center for Polymers, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States.
Abstract:
Conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was utilized to characterize vesicles formed by the spontaneous self-assembly of a novel zwitterionic block copolymer in the ionic liquid (2-hydroxyethyl)dimethylammonium methanesulfonate as well as in 0.1 M phosphate buffered saline (PBS). This block copolymer was synthesized via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of a norbornene-based sulfobetaine, followed by its end-functionalization with polystyrene to generate the necessary amphiphilic structure. The ionic liquid enabled the visualization of the vesicles in their swollen state by TEM, demonstrating a new method for improved characterization of polymer vesicles.
Related Concept Videos
The Colloidal State
Membrane Fluidity
Cationic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism

