Biological cells are topologically spherical, and many cell types, including fungal spores, pollen grains and insect cuticles, have evolved diverse yet reproducible micron-scaled surface textures comprised of spikes, stripes, and holes. Here, we recapitulate the biophysical mechanism that forms these patterns on pollen grains, in which a phase separation of extracellular materials is mechanically coupled to the elastic cell membrane. The phase separation of <i>polydisperse</i> liquid crystal oligomers (LCOs) occurs at the interface of the oil-in-water droplet upon evaporation of the organic solvent, facilitated by the preference of different LCO chain lengths for different surface curvatures as the droplet evolves. When surfactants are present above the critical micelle concentration (CMC), an elastic surface layer that is mechanically coupled to the rest of the particle results and stabilizes the droplet. Tuning the polymer chemistry of the system leads to a variety of pollen-like microparticles. Our study reveals that the energetically favorable biological mechanism can be leveraged to offer simple yet versatile approaches to synthesize microparticles for mechanosensing, tissue engineering, drug delivery, energy storage, and displays.

Diverse pollen-like microparticles from liquid crystal oligomers via a biological pathway

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.