English

Liquid Crystalline Polymer Vesicles: Thermotropic Phases in Lyotropic Structures

Soft Condensed Matter 2015-03-05 v2

Abstract

This paper reviews the research work on the liquid crystalline (LC) polymer vesicles (polymersomes), where the thermotropic nematic and smectic phases are displayed in the lyotropic bilayer polymer membrane. LC polymersomes possess the properties of both liquid crystals and polymers, the two essential soft matters. LC polymersomes offer, on the one hand, novel examples of the interplay between orientational order and the curved geometry of a two dimensional membrane. Spherical, ellipsoidal and tetrahedral vesicles are discussed. On the other hand, LC polymersomes enable novel design of stimuli-responsive polymersomes using intramolecular conformational transition from nematic to isotropic phase of LC blocks. Photo-responsive polymersome bursting is highlighted.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1503.00904,
  title  = {Liquid Crystalline Polymer Vesicles: Thermotropic Phases in Lyotropic Structures},
  author = {Lin Jia and Min-Hui Li},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1503.00904},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

35 pages, 17 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-22T08:43:00.415Z