Stressed and Compressed Polymersomes

Polymersomes are well-defined vesicular structures that have been studied extensively for encapsulation, controlled release and as cell mimics, inter alia. While polymersomes at ambient conditions are reasonably well-understood, comparatively little is known about how structure and properties change when subject to variations in their local environment. In this talk, atomic force microscopy is used to probe PEO-PBD polymersomes adsorbed at a solid liquid interface under osmotic pressure. We reveal interesting changes in shape and solvation not captured by classical theory.