Facile, Solution-Based Synthesis of Soft, Nanoscale Janus Particles with Tunable Janus Balance

Abstract

We present a novel, versatile, and simple solution-based routine to produce soft, nanosized Janus particles with tunable structural and physical properties at high volume yield. This process is based on the cross-linking of compartments within precisely defined multicompartment micelles (MCMs), which are themselves formed by the self-assembly of ABC triblock terpolymers. Therein, the C blocks form the stabilizing corona emanating from B compartments, which in turn reside on an A core. Cross-linking of the B compartments allows to permanently fixate the phase-separated state and dissolution in a good solvent for all blocks breaks up the MCMs into single Janus particles. They now consist of a core of cross-linked B blocks and two phase-separated hemispheres of A and C. The process gives access to unprecedented structural features such as tunable core diameter and control over the Janus balance ranging from dominant A side to equal hemispheres to dominant C side. We demonstrate that this simple one-pot approach can be extended to a range of triblock terpolymers with different block lengths and block chemistries to furnish a library of tailor-made Janus particles with widely tunable physical properties. Such a diversity and simplicity has remained unreachable with our previously developed approach using the controlled cross-linking of bulk morphologies. We show that this new synthetic route can be upscaled to a high volume yield of 10 wt %, thereby enabling large-scale applications. We further demonstrate the effect of the Janus balance on colloidal self-assembly. Janus particles with a dominant hydrophobic and a small hydrophilic patch aggregate into large clusters in water, but merely di- or trimerize in chloroform.

An injectable, thermosensitive and multicompartment hydrogel for simultaneous encapsulation and independent release of a drug cocktail as an effective combination therapy platform

“…Firstly, the cooperative assembly behavior and the possible fusion of two types of nanoparticles were investigated to exam the formation of different compartments in the hydrogel formulation. Our previous study and other reports on multicompartment micelles have demonstrated that immiscible hydrocarbons and fluorocarbons were inclined to microphase separation and form their own compartments in the micellar core, which was usually observed by transmission electron microscope (TEM) [38,51]. As to this aspect, the FRET technology was utilized to investigate the incompatible property of selected nanoparticles, which might result in the multicompartment hydrogel formation.…”

“…Among these vectors, multicompartment release systems [30][31][32][33][34][35][36] have emerged in recent years as an ideal platform for simultaneous encapsulation of multiple drugs in segregated compartments. However, until now, much effort has been paid to develop multicompartment structures [34,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43] and few such systems could easily succeed in selective encapsulation and controlled release of multiple drugs. One hiding barrier is that the encapsulation demands precise chemical structure adjustment or advanced technologies, especially for separate drug encapsulation.…”

Artificial molecular and nanostructures for advanced nanomachinery

“…The corona ratio can be tuned by altering the block ratios of the polymers. 58,59 This method has been used to form…”

Rapid and Efficient Formation of Reverse Vesicle on Carbon Fibers

“…On the basis of the study of British scholar Bangham [1] , normal vesicles have many applications in biomimicry [2] , biopharmaceutics [3] , nanoparticles synthesis [4] . As the counterparts of normal vesicles, reverse vesicles are formed in organic, nonpolar solvents ("oils") [5][6][7][8] .…”