Continuous fabrication of polymeric vesicles and nanotubes with fluidic channels

Abstract

Fluidic channels were employed to induce the self-assembly of poly(ethylene glycol)-b-polystyrene into polymeric vesicles and nanotubes. The laminar flow in the device enables controlled diffusion of two miscible liquids at the phase boundary, leading to the formation of homogeneous polymeric structures of different shapes. These structures could be easily loaded with small molecule cargoes and functionalized with nanometer sized catalytic platinum nanoparticles. This technique offers a facile methodology to rapidly and continuously produce well-defined polymeric structures for nanotechnology applications.