Spontaneous growth and division in self-reproducing inorganic colloidosomes

Self-reproduction in compartmentalized chemical ensembles is a central issue for the development of new materials and processes capable of autonomous behavior, self-amplification and artificial evolution. Current approaches to synthetic cellularity focus primarily on self-assembled soft matter systems such as membrane-bounded lipid vesicles, which have sufficient structural plasticity to undergo growth and division. Steps towards inorganic protocells are being advanced, but self-reproduction in these more structurally robust micro-compartments has not been demonstrated. Here, a primitive form of growth and division involving inorganic colloidosomes (Pickering emulsions), comprising aqueous micro-droplets enclosed by an ultrathin membrane of silica nanoparticles, is shown. Growth of the colloidosomes is induced by organosilane-mediated methanol formation, and results in a localized rupture of the inorganic membrane followed by outgrowth and separation of a second-generation protocell, which is stabilized by de novo nanoparticle assembly. These observations provide a first step towards synthetic cell-like inorganic materials capable of chemically induced self-reproduction.