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Electrostatically Directed Self-Assembly of Ultrathin Supramolecular Polymer Microcapsules.


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Authors

Parker, Richard M 
Zhang, Jing 
Zheng, Yu 
Coulston, Roger J 
Smith, Clive A 

Abstract

Supramolecular self-assembly offers routes to challenging architectures on the molecular and macroscopic scale. Coupled with microfluidics it has been used to make microcapsules-where a 2D sheet is shaped in 3D, encapsulating the volume within. In this paper, a versatile methodology to direct the accumulation of capsule-forming components to the droplet interface using electrostatic interactions is described. In this approach, charged copolymers are selectively partitioned to the microdroplet interface by a complementary charged surfactant for subsequent supramolecular cross-linking via cucurbit[8]uril. This dynamic assembly process is employed to selectively form both hollow, ultrathin microcapsules and solid microparticles from a single solution. The ability to dictate the distribution of a mixture of charged copolymers within the microdroplet, as demonstrated by the single-step fabrication of distinct core-shell microcapsules, gives access to a new generation of innovative self-assembled constructs.

Description

Keywords

microcapsules, microfluidics, microstructures, self-assembly, supramolecular materials

Journal Title

Adv Funct Mater

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1616-301X
1616-3028

Volume Title

25

Publisher

Wiley
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/H046593/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/K503496/1)
European Research Council (240629)
This work was supported by the Engineering Physical Sciences Research Council, Institutional Sponsorship 2012-University of Cambridge EP/K503496/1, and the Translational Grant EP/H046593/1; Y.Z. and R.P. were also funded from the Starting Investigator grant ASPiRe (No. 240629) from the European Research Council and the Isaac Newton Trust research grant No. 13.7(c). A.S. was supported by the Nano Doctoral Training Centre (NanoDTC).