Shape characterization of polymersome morphologies via light scattering techniques

POLYMER

卷:107

Article

Abdelmohsen, Loai K. E. A.¹  Rikken, Roger S. M.^1,2  Christianen, Peter C. M.^1,2  van Hest, Jan C. M.¹  Wilson, Daniela A.¹ 

[1] Radboud Univ Nijmegen, Inst Mol & Mat, Heyendaalseweg 135, NL-6525 AJ Nijmegen, Netherlands

[2] Radboud Univ Nijmegen, HFML, EMFL, Toernooiveld 7, NL-6525 ED Nijmegen, Netherlands

关键词: Polymersomes;    Morphology;    Asymmetric flow field flow fractionation;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.polymer.2016.06.067

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Polymersomes, vesicles self-assembled from amphiphilic block copolymers, are well known for their robustness and for their broad applicability. Generating polymersomes of different shape is a topic of recent attention, specifically in the field of biomedical applications. To obtain information about their exact shape, tomography based on cryo-electron microscopy is usually the most preferred technique. Unfortunately, this technique is rather time consuming and expensive. Here we demonstrate an alternative analytical approach for the characterization of differently shaped polymersomes such as spheres, prolates and discs via the combination of multi-angle light scattering (MALS) and quasi-elastic light scattering (QELS). The use of these coupled techniques allowed for accurate determination of both the radius of gyration (R-g) and the hydrodynamic radius (R-h). This afforded us to determine the shape ratio rho (R-g/R-h) with which we were able to distinguish between polymersome spheres, discs and rods. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free