Technological watch

A comprehensive overview of nanomaterials that are inspired by or targeted at biology, including some of the latest breakthrough research. Throughout, valuable contributions from top-level scientists illustrate how bionanomaterials could lead to novel devices or structures with unique properties.
The first and second part cover the most relevant synthetic and bioinspired nanomaterials, including surfaces with extreme wettability properties, functional materials with improved adhesion or structural and functional systems based on the complex and hierarchical organization of natural composites. These lessons from nature are explored in the last section where bioinspired materials are proposed for biomedical applications, showing their potential for future applications in drug delivery, theragnosis, and regenerative medicine.
A navigational guide aimed at advanced and specialist readers, while equally relevant for readers in research, academia or private companies focused on high added-value contributions. Young researchers will also find this an indispensable guide in choosing or continuing to work in this stimulating area, which involves a wide range of disciplines, including chemistry, physics, materials science and engineering, biology, and medicine.
A comprehensive overview of nanomaterials that are inspired by or targeted at biology, including some of the latest breakthrough research. Throughout, valuable contributions from top-level scientists illustrate how bionanomaterials could lead to novel devices or structures with unique properties.
The first and second part cover the most relevant synthetic and bioinspired nanomaterials, including surfaces with extreme wettability properties, functional materials with improved adhesion or structural and functional systems based on the complex and hierarchical organization of natural composites. These lessons from nature are explored in the last section where bioinspired materials are proposed for biomedical applications, showing their potential for future applications in drug delivery, theragnosis, and regenerative medicine.
A navigational guide aimed at advanced and specialist readers, while equally relevant for readers in research, academia or private companies focused on high added-value contributions. Young researchers will also find this an indispensable guide in choosing or continuing to work in this stimulating area, which involves a wide range of disciplines, including chemistry, physics, materials science and engineering, biology, and medicine.
SummaryPolymeric vesicles, also called polymersomes, are the synthetic analog of liposomes. Polymersomes are self?assembled structures composed of amphiphilic block copolymers instead of phospholipids as their natural counterparts. They provide enhanced variability as well as improved physical and chemical stability, owing to the good synthetic control in polymer chemistry. Water?soluble as well as lipophilic cargo can be embedded either in the hydrophobic part of the polymersomes' membrane or encapsulated in the hydrophilic inner lumen of the polymer vesicle. Many types of cargo such as dyes or drug molecules as well as inorganic nanoparticles such as iron oxide or gold colloids are feasible, leading to hybrid structures for versatile applications, which include theranostic approaches in biomedicine. Tunable membrane properties enable the generation of a controlled release of a therapeutic cargo triggered by external or internal stimuli. Even the incorporation of tunnel proteins has already been performed and polymersomes have been shown to be smart nanoreactors with controllable transport through their membrane. Furthermore, surface functionalization broadens the range of potential applications: specific targeting ligands attached to the polymersomes' surface can help to transport, for example, anticancer agents to the tumor tissue while protecting the surrounding healthy tissue from the highly cytotoxic drugs.This chapter briefly presents the basic principles of polymersome formation and different preparation methods. Furthermore, it gives an overview of the broad range of promising applications of polymeric vesicles, which includes – but is not limited to – polymersomes as smart drug carriers, theranostic multi?tools, and nanoreactors.