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Spontaneous Formation of Giant Unilamellar Vesicles from Microdroplets of a Polyion Complex by Thermally Induced Phase Separation
Author(s) -
Oana Hidehiro,
Kishimura Akihiro,
Yonehara Kei,
Yamasaki Yuichi,
Washizu Masao,
Kataoka Kazunori
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.200900721
Subject(s) - vesicle , cationic polymerization , chemical physics , phase (matter) , polymer , chemistry , chemical engineering , materials science , membrane , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , biochemistry , engineering
Water pump : Polyion complex (PIC) vesicles are spontaneously formed from PIC microdroplets, which are formed by mixing cationic and anionic polymers (see picture). The formation process can be reversibly controlled by local heating with a focused infrared laser that triggers microphase separation and subsequent water influx. The size of the resulting giant unilamellar vesicles is determined by the initial size of the PIC droplets.