Structure of Amphiphilic Terpolymer Raspberry Vesicles
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Published version
Author(s)
Guo, YY
di Mare, L
Li, RKY
Wong, JSS
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Terpolymer raspberry vesicles contain domains of different chemical affinities. They are potential candidates as multi-compartment cargo carriers. Their efficacy depends on their stability and load capacity. Using a model star terpolymer system in an aqueous solution, a dissipative particle dynamic (DPD) simulation is employed to investigate how equilibrium aggregate structures are affected by polymer concentration and pairwise interaction energy in a solution. It is shown that a critical mass of polymer is necessary for vesicle formation. The free energy of the equilibrium aggregates are calculated and the results show that the transition from micelles to vesicles is governed by the interactions between the longest solvophobic block and the solvent. In addition, the ability of vesicles to encapsulate solvent is assessed. It is found that reducing the interaction energy favours solvent encapsulation, although solvent molecules can permeate through the vesicle’s shell when repulsive interactions among monomers are low. Thus, one can optimize the loading capacity and the release rate of the vesicles by turning pairwise interaction energies of the polymer and the solvent. The ability to predict and control these aspects of the vesicles is an essential step towards designing vesicles for specific purposes.
Date Issued
2017-07-09
Date Acceptance
2017-07-06
Citation
Polymers, 2017, 9 (7)
ISSN
2073-4360
Publisher
MDPI
Journal / Book Title
Polymers
Volume
9
Issue
7
Copyright Statement
© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
License URL
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
SKF (UK) Ltd
Grant Number
EP/L023202/1
N/A
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Polymer Science
raspberry vesicles
DPD simulations
star terpolymer
equilibrium structures
cargo release
DISSIPATIVE PARTICLE DYNAMICS
MIKTOARM STAR TERPOLYMERS
DIBLOCK COPOLYMERS
MESOSCOPIC SIMULATION
TRIBLOCK COPOLYMERS
SOLVENT CONDITIONS
POLYMER VESICLES
BLOCK-COPOLYMERS
BILAYER SHEETS
MORPHOLOGIES
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
275