Abstract
We create long polymer nanotubes by directly pulling on the membrane of polymersomes using either optical tweezers or a micropipette. The polymersomes are composed of amphiphilic diblock copolymers and the nanotubes formed have an aqueous core connected to the aqueous interior of the polymersome. Stabilized membranes of nanotubes and vesicles were formed by the directed selfassembly of poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polybutadiene, followed by photopolymerization, initiated by UV light, to a maximum double bond conversion of 15%. The photopolymerized nanotubes are extremely robust. The applicability of photopolymerization for biophysics and bioanalytical science is demonstrated by electrophoresing DNA molecules through a stabilized nanotube with an integrated vesicle reservoir.
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