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 develop patterned liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) particles by recapitulating 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. Analogously, LCE particles with variable surface patterns are created through a phase separation of liquid crystal oligomers (LCOs) droplet coupled to homeotropic anchoring at the droplet interface.<i> Polydisperse</i> LCOs and an organic solvent phase separate at the surface of oil-in-water droplets, while simultaneously different LCO chain lengths segregate to different surface curvatures. This phase separation, which creates a distortion in the director field, is in competition with homeotropic anchoring induced by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). 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.<br/>

Mimicry of a biophysical pathway leads to diverse pollen-like surface patterns

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

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