Making polymeric micro- and nanoparticles of complex shapes - PubMed (original) (raw)

Making polymeric micro- and nanoparticles of complex shapes

Julie A Champion et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007.

Abstract

Polymeric micro- and nanoparticles play a central role in varied applications such as drug delivery, medical imaging, and advanced materials, as well as in fundamental studies in fields such as microfluidics and nanotechnology. Functional behavior of polymeric particles in these fields is strongly influenced by their shape. However, the availability of precisely shaped polymeric particles has been a major bottleneck in understanding and capitalizing on the role of shape in particle function. Here we report a method that directly addresses this need. Our method uses routine laboratory chemicals and equipment to make particles with >20 distinct shapes and characteristic features ranging in size from 60 nm to 30 microm. This method offers independent control over important particle properties such as size and shape, which is crucial to the development of nonspherical particles both as tools and products for a variety of fields.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

Methods used for making particles with different shapes can be categorized into two general schemes. (Upper) Scheme A involves liquefaction of particles by using heat or toluene, stretching the film in one or two dimensions and solidifying the particles by extracting toluene or cooling. The example shown here produces elliptical disks. (Lower) Scheme B involves stretching the film in air to create voids around the particle, followed by liquefaction using heat or toluene and solidification. The example shown here produces barrels.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2.

Micrographs of shapes made by using scheme A. (a) Spheres. (b) Rectangular disks. (c) Rods. (d) Worms. (e) Oblate ellipses. (f) Elliptical disks. (g) UFOs. (h) Circular disks. (Scale bars: 2 μm.).

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3.

Micrographs of shapes made by using scheme B. (a) Barrels. (b) Bullets. (c) Pills. (d) Pulleys. (e) Biconvex lenses. (Scale bars: 2 μm.)

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4.

Micrographs of shapes made by using combinations of schemes A and B. (a) Ribbons with curled ends. (b) Bicones. (c) Diamond disks. (d) Emarginate disks. (e) Flat pills. (f) Elongated hexagonal disks. (g) Ravioli. (h) Tacos. (i) Wrinkled prolate ellipsoids. (j) Wrinkled oblate ellipses. (k) Porous elliptical disks. (Scale bars: 2 μm, a–i and k; 400 nm, j.)

Fig. 5.

Fig. 5.

Micrograph of elliptical disks made from 220-nm-diameter PS spheres. (Scale bar: 2 μm.)

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