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Vesicles composed of diblock copolymers, or polymersomes, have proven to possess numerous applications ranging from drug delivery to catalytically driven nano-motors. The shape of a polymersome can be responsive to… Click to show full abstract
Vesicles composed of diblock copolymers, or polymersomes, have proven to possess numerous applications ranging from drug delivery to catalytically driven nano-motors. The shape of a polymersome can be responsive to external stimuli, such as light or solvent. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the shape change upon the contraction of the inner volume of a polymersome vesicle occurs in two separate regimes-a stretching regime and a bending regime. The barrier is shown to be dependent on the solvent environment. These results suggest that tailoring the bending modulus of polymer membranes can be used as a design methodology to engineer new stimuli-responsive vesicles.
Journal Title: Soft matter
Year Published: 2020
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