Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 109, Issue 14, Pages 5202-5206Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1115684109
Keywords
amphiphilic block copolymers; bending energy; Frank free energy; liquid crystalline polymers; self-assembled bilayer
Categories
Funding
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- National Science Foundation [DMR 09-55760, DMR-0808812]
- Syracuse University
- French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) [ANR-08-BLANC-0209-01]
- Division Of Materials Research
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [0808812] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Recent experiments on vesicles formed from block copolymers with liquid-crystalline side chains reveal a rich variety of vesicle morphologies. The additional internal order (structure) developed by these self-assembled block copolymer vesicles can lead to significantly deformed vesicles as a result of the delicate interplay between two-dimensional ordering and vesicle shape. The inevitable topological defects in structured vesicles of spherical topology also play an essential role in controlling the final vesicle morphology. Here we develop a minimal theoretical model for the morphology of the membrane structure with internal nematic/smectic order. Using both analytic and numerical approaches, we show that the possible low free energy morphologies include nano-size cylindrical micelles (nano-fibers), faceted tetrahedral vesicles, and ellipsoidal vesicles, as well as cylindrical vesicles. The tetrahedral vesicle is a particularly fascinating example of a faceted liquid-crystalline membrane. Faceted liquid vesicles may lead to the design of supramolecular structures with tetrahedral symmetry and new classes of nano-carriers.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available