Department of Chemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China.
J Am Chem Soc. 2009 Nov 25;131(46):16650-1. doi: 10.1021/ja907898u.
Cylindrical micelles made of soluble and insoluble segments have found many interesting applications, for example, in templating the formation of inorganic nanocrystal arrays, controlled drug delivery, and bionanotechnology. Conventional methods for the preparation of cylindrical micelles are based on the judicious design of the molecular structures of the soluble and insoluble segments and the manipulation of the external parameters, such as the solvent, temperature, and guest ions/molecules. Here we report on the production of cylindrical micelles by extruding spherical micelles through nanoscale pores. The obtained cylindrical micelles and their transformation back into the spherical micelles are characterized using transmission electron microscopy imaging and dynamic laser light scattering. The extrusion process is continuous and simple and can be upgraded to large scales. We believe that our nanopore extrusion-based preparation method will provide enormous opportunities for the applications of block copolymer cylindrical micelles in nanotechnology and medicine.
由可溶性和不可溶性链段组成的圆柱形胶束已经有了许多有趣的应用，例如在模板无机纳米晶体阵列的形成、控制药物输送和生物纳米技术方面。制备圆柱形胶束的常规方法是基于可溶性和不可溶性链段的分子结构的精心设计以及外部参数（如溶剂、温度和客体离子/分子）的操纵。在这里，我们通过纳米级孔挤压球形胶束来生产圆柱形胶束。使用透射电子显微镜成像和动态激光光散射来表征所得到的圆柱形胶束及其转化回球形胶束。挤出过程连续且简单，可以扩展到大规模。我们相信，我们基于纳米孔挤压的制备方法将为嵌段共聚物圆柱形胶束在纳米技术和医学中的应用提供巨大的机会。
