Dynamic metastable polymersomes enable continuous flow manufacturing

Chin Ken Wong (), Rebecca Y. Lai and Martina H. Stenzel ()
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Chin Ken Wong: University of New South Wales (UNSW)
Rebecca Y. Lai: University of New South Wales (UNSW)
Martina H. Stenzel: University of New South Wales (UNSW)

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Polymersomes are polymeric analogues of liposomes with exceptional physical and chemical properties. Despite being dubbed as next-generation vesicles since their inception nearly three decades ago, polymersomes have yet to experience translation into the clinical or industrial settings. This is due to a lack of reliable methods to upscale production without compromising control over polymersome properties. Herein we report a continuous flow methodology capable of producing near-monodisperse polymersomes at scale (≥3 g/h) with the possibility of performing downstream polymersome manipulation. Unlike conventional polymersomes, our polymersomes exhibit metastability under ambient conditions, persisting for a lifetime of ca. 7 days, during which polymersome growth occurs until a dynamic equilibrium state is reached. We demonstrate how this metastable state is key to the implementation of downstream processes to manipulate polymersome size and/or shape in the same continuous stream. The methodology operates in a plug-and-play fashion and is applicable to various block copolymers.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41883-6

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