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Updated: Sep 22, 2025
Forming Giant-sized Polymersomes Using Gel-assisted Rehydration
Published on: May 26, 2016
Polymersomes and Multicompartment Polymersomes Formed by the Interfacial Self-Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles and
Robert J Hickey1, Qingjie Luo1, So-Jung Park1,2
1Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, 231 South 34th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States.
Abstract:
Here, we report the formation of polymer vesicles (polymersomes) uniformly decorated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) through the interfacial self-assembly of 11-mercapto-1-undecanol (MUL)-stabilized AuNPs and two prototypical amphiphilic polymers (i.e., polystyrene-block-poly(acrylic acid) (PS-b-PAA), poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polylactide (PEO-b-PLA)). The addition of MUL-capped nanoparticles during the self-assembly process was found to stabilize colloidal polymer assemblies that otherwise tend to form macroscopic aggregates in water. Multicompartment polymersomes with complex internal membrane structures were formed at high nanoparticle volume percent, demonstrating that the interfacial assembly of nanoparticles can be used to create interesting new types of polymer assemblies while providing additional functionalities. This strategy offers a simple method for the formation of nanoparticle-loaded polymersomes that is applicable to various types of amphiphilic polymers.
