Microfluidic Droplet-Facilitated Hierarchical Assembly for Dual Cargo Loading and Synergistic Delivery.

ABSTRACT: Bottom-up hierarchical assembly has emerged as an elaborate and energy-efficient strategy for the fabrication of smart materials. Herein, we present a hierarchical assembly process, whereby linear amphiphilic block copolymers are self-assembled into micelles, which in turn are accommodated at the interface of microfluidic droplets via cucurbit[8]uril-mediated host-guest chemistry to form supramolecular microcapsules. The monodisperse microcapsules can be used for simultaneous carriage of both organic (Nile Red) and aqueous-soluble (fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran) cargo. Furthermore, the well-defined compartmentalized structure benefits from the dynamic nature of the supramolecular interaction and offers synergistic delivery of cargos with triggered release or through photocontrolled po

SUBMITTER: Yu Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4838949 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature