Monodisperse Vesicles Stabilized by Grafted Polymers

Abstract

We have anchored an amphiphilic polymer on a fluid surfactant membrane. The polymer stabilizes the formation of vesicles over a wide composition and temperature range. The vesicles observed by light and neutron scattering are spontaneously spherical and monodisperse, and one can control their radius in the range 15--150 nm. They exhibit small shape fluctuations driven by their bending elasticity which we study quantitatively by dynamic light scattering. The polymer does not much influence the membrane rigidity in the range of the grafting density investigated but, nevertheless, locks the curvature of the vesicles.