Precisely Controlled Incorporation of Drug Nanoparticles in Polymer Vesicles by Amphiphilic Copolymer Tethers

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the fabrication of nanoparticle (NP)-embedded nanovesicles by coassembly of diblock copolymer-tethered NPs and free diblock copolymers via the dissipative particle dynamics simulation technique. We use an improved quantitative model to characterize the angular and radial distributions of NPs within vesicle walls simultaneously. In a specific circumstance, the NPs can be localized in the central portion of the vesicle walls, which is in excellent agreement with the experimental work. On the basis of this model, we find that the distributions of the NPs can be well manipulated just by three physical quantities, which are easily controlled in the experiments. For instance, the radial distributions of the NPs can be precisely controlled by changing the grafted hydrophobic chain length and the tethered arm number affects the dispersity of the NPs in the angular direction of the vesicle walls. The results provide the experimentalists with a way to design carrier-assistant drug deliver...