Configuration-controllable Polymeric Nanovehicles Self-assembled in Pixel Grids under Electric Field.

Polymeric nanovehicles have been widely applied in many fields, but during the process of preparation, it is still hard to reach the balance between precise structure control and mass production. In the present work, using industrial pixel grids as macroscopic template, we applied dual effects of confinement and dielectric difference to speed up the self-assembly of polymeric nanovehicles, even to regulate the generated mesostructures and cargo loading. Within two minutes, poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(DL-lactide acid) (PEG-b-PDLLA) amphiphilic block copolymer layer was rapidly pushed off and broken down into uniform nanoparticles at 40 V. Hereinto, increasing volume of outer aqueous phase in pixel grids favored architectonic transformation of the generated nanovehicles from solid micelles with diameter of 95 nm to hollow vesicle with diameter of 232 nm. In particular, all the elements from the confinement cells to the preparation process can be completed via wet printing. Electric field-induced pixel template technology (EPT) is facile, cheap, controllable and recyclable, and it is anticipated to promote continuous and bulk production of polymeric nanovehicles.