ABSTRACT
Lipids are the defining components of cell membranes, but the relatively small size of these amphiphilic molecules restricts the range of properties achievable with lipid membranes. Block copolymers with lipid-like amphiphilicity can also self-assemble into bilayer membranes to produce polymersomes, and cell-sized vesicles can be made with thick membranes of low permeability and high mechanical toughness but they can also be made degradable. The great variety in types and sizes of polymers provides mechanisms for tuning membrane physical and chemical properties for applications in fields that range from cell mimetic devices to drug delivery. Once a hydrophilic and hydrophobic chemistry is chosen and synthesized in various block ratios, dried films of the amphiphilic block copolymers should be made, gently hydrated, and potentially perturbed at various temperatures to look for vesicle production. Many of the processing steps and characterization methods used for lipid membranes also apply to polymersomes and polymer giant unilamellar vesicles.
