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Recent Progress in Polymer Cubosomes and Hexosomes
Author(s) -
Chen Hui,
Li MinHui
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.202100194
Subject(s) - polymer , nanotechnology , materials science , lyotropic liquid crystal , micelle , lyotropic , amphiphile , bilayer , self assembly , polymer architecture , liquid crystal , colloid , copolymer , chemical engineering , membrane , liquid crystalline , chemistry , aqueous solution , organic chemistry , composite material , biochemistry , optoelectronics , engineering
Abstract Polymer cubosomes and hexosomes are polymer colloids with inverted lyotropic liquid crystal phases as internal structures. They are composed of regular networks of water‐filled channels surrounded by a bilayer membrane made from amphiphilic block copolymers. Due to the uniform, tunable, and highly ordered porous structure, polymer cubosomes and hexosomes present numerous advantages over polymer micelles and vesicles, such as the high loading volumes for both hydrophilic and hydrophobic substances, large specific surface areas, and good mechanical and chemical stabilities. The polymer chemistry also enables unlimited molecular design to endow these polymer colloids with a lot of adjustable physical and chemical properties. Therefore, polymer cubosomes and hexosomes have attracted increasing attention for their potential applications in materials science and nanotechnology. This review outlines the recent progress in this field with an emphasis on the polymer architectures, the self‐assembly conditions and mechanisms, and some application examples which are special for these inverted polymer colloids. It is hoped to provide some practical guidance for researchers interested in polymer cubosomes and hexosomes.