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PUBLICATIONS

Stable and Robust Polymer Nanotubes Stretched From Polymersomes

Published

Author(s)

Joseph E. Reiner, J M. Wells, Rani B. Kishore, Candace Pfefferkorn, Kristian Helmerson

Abstract

We create long polymer nanotubes by directly pulling on the membrane of polymersomes using either optical tweezers or a micropipette. The polymersomes are composed of amphiphilic diblock copolymers and the nanotubes formed have an aqueous core. We stabilize the pulled nanotubes by subsequent chemical cross-linking. The cross-linked nanotubes are extremely robust and can be moved to another medium for use elsewhere. We demonstrate the ability to form networks of polymer nanotubes and polymersomes by optical manipulation.
Citation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Pub Type
Journals

Keywords

amphiphilic, cross-linking, diblock copolymers, nanotubes, optical tweezers, polymersomes

Citation

Reiner, J. , Wells, J. , Kishore, R. , Pfefferkorn, C. and Helmerson, K. (2021), Stable and Robust Polymer Nanotubes Stretched From Polymersomes, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Accessed November 4, 2025)

Issues

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Created October 12, 2021
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