am6b00661_si_001.pdf (1.11 MB)
Microfluidic Droplet-Facilitated Hierarchical Assembly for Dual Cargo Loading and Synergistic Delivery
journal contribution
posted on 2016-03-16, 00:00 authored by Ziyi Yu, Yu Zheng, Richard
M. Parker, Yang Lan, Yuchao Wu, Roger J. Coulston, Jing Zhang, Oren A. Scherman, Chris AbellBottom-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 porosity. This demonstration of premeditated
hierarchical assembly, where interactions from the molecular to microscale
are designed, illustrates the power of this route toward accessing
the next generation of functional materials and encapsulation strategies.