Mechanical instability generates monodisperse colloidosomes
Abstract
Formation and rupture of vesicles is a fundamental process underlying diverse phenomena in biology, materials science, and biomedical applications. Vesicles form when the area of a growing disk-like membrane exceeds a critical value at which the edge and bending energies balance each other. Observing such topological transitions in lipid bilayers is a challenge because of their nanoscale dimensions and rapid dynamics. We study a scaled-up model of colloidal membranes assembled from rod-shaped colloidal particles. The unique features of colloidal membranes enable the real-time visualization of spontaneous closure driven by instability relevant to all membrane-based materials. First-principles theory quantitatively predicts the instability point for vesicle formation and intermediate membrane conformations during the disk-to-vesicle transition. The instability generates monodisperse, selectively permeable colloidosomes with size controlled by gravity and membrane thickness, providing a scalable and programmable platform for diverse applications.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2511.06588,
title = {Mechanical instability generates monodisperse colloidosomes},
author = {Seungwoo Shin and Federico Cao and Robert A. Pelcovits and Thomas R. Powers and Zvonimir Dogic},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.06588},
year = {2025}
}