Thermophoretic migration of vesicles depends on mean temperature and head group chemistry

Emma L. Talbot, Jurij Kotar, Lucia Parolini, Lorenzo Di Michele and Pietro Cicuta ()
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Emma L. Talbot: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge
Jurij Kotar: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge
Lucia Parolini: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge
Lorenzo Di Michele: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge
Pietro Cicuta: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract A number of colloidal systems, including polymers, proteins, micelles and hard spheres, have been studied in thermal gradients to observe and characterize their driven motion. Here we show experimentally the thermophoretic behaviour of unilamellar lipid vesicles, finding that mobility depends on the mean local temperature of the suspension and on the structure of the exposed polar lipid head groups. By tuning the temperature, vesicles can be directed towards hot or cold, forming a highly concentrated region. Binary mixtures of vesicles composed of different lipids can be segregated using thermophoresis, according to their head group. Our results demonstrate that thermophoresis enables robust and chemically specific directed motion of liposomes, which can be exploited in driven processes.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15351

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