POLY 464 |
| A new class of nanostructured vesicles and bilayers were observed from aqueous self-assembly of ABC miktoarm star terpolymers with three mutually immiscible blocks. The nanostructured vesicles grow by a three-stage process: (i) segmented wormlike micelles first self-assemble upon initial dissolution of the terpolymers, then (ii) fuse to form polygonal, laterally structured bilayer sheets, and subsequently (iii) the large bilayer sheets curve and close off to form vesicles. The latter two stages are sufficiently slow that intermediate structures are readily captured and imaged by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryoTEM). The lateral structure within the membrane consists of approximately hexagonally packed fluorocarbon channels with radius 4.1 nm, immersed in a continuous, two-dimensional hydrocarbon bilayer. |
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Multicompartment Micelles: Higher Order Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers
6:00 PM-8:00 PM, Tuesday, 12 September 2006 Moscone Center -- Hall D, Poster
Sci-Mix
Division of Polymer Chemistry |