In this talk I will present our research work on the liquid crystalline (LC) polymer vesicles (polymersomes), where the thermotropic nematic and smectic phases are displayed in the lyotropic bilayer polymer membrane. LC polymersomes possess the properties of both liquid crystals and polymers, the two essential soft matters. LC polymersomes offer, on the one hand, novel examples of the interplay between the orientational order and the curved geometry of a two dimensional membrane. Spherical, ellipsoidal and tetrahedral vesicles will be discussed. On the other hand, LC polymersomes enable novel design of stimuli-responsive polymersomes using intramolecular conformational transition from nematic to isotropic phase of LC blocks. Photo-responsive polymersome bursting will be highlighted.
References:
[1] Jia L., Li M.-H. “Liquid crystalline polymer vesicles: thermotropic phases in lyotropic structures” Liquid Crystals, 2013, in press, DOI: 10.1080/02678292.2013.827753. (Published online: 12 Aug 2013)
[2] Hocine S., Cui D., Rager M.-N., Di Cicco A., Liu J.-M., Wdzieczak-Bakala J., Brûlet A., and Li M.-H., “Polymersomes with PEG Corona: Structural Changes and Controlled Release Induced by Temperature Variation”, Langmuir 2013, 29, 1356-1369.
[3] Xing X., Shin H., Bowick M. J., Yao Z., Jia L., and Li M.-H., “Morphology of Nematic and Smectic Vesicles”, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 2012, 109, 5202-5206.
[4] Jia L., Lévy D., Durand D., Impéror-Clerc M., Cao A., Li M.-H., “Smectic Polymer Micellar Aggregates with Temperature-Controlled Morphologies”, Soft Matter, 2011, 7, 7395-7403.[5] Mabrouk E., Cuvelier D., Brochard-Wyart F., Nassoy P., Li M.-H., “Bursting of sensitive polymersomes induced by curling”, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 2009, 106, 7294-7298.
Laboratoire Physico-chimie Curie, CNRS-UMR 168 Institut Curie, Centre de recherche, 26 rue d’Ulm, 75248 Paris, France