Synthesis and applications of polymer cubosomes and hexosomes
Carlos Reyes, Sung Min Ha, Kyoung Taek Kim
Abstract
Abstract The synthesis and use of polymer cubosomes have received significant attention in recent years. Polymer cubosomes are highly stable colloidal particles with triply periodic minimal surface. Inherently, polymer cubosomes have several advantages over other nanostructures like micelles and vesicles as they are quite uniform and porous structures. Due to the large specific surface area of the interior and bicontinuous nature, they have the capacity to load significant amounts of hydrophobic and hydrophilic substances. Additionally, their properties make them suitable for use as nanotemplates, catalyst supports, and nanovehicles for the separation and regulated release of biomolecules. Regarding their synthesis, block copolymers that may form cubosomes are still few in number, in part because different block copolymers require various self‐assembly conditions. In order to create polymer cubosomes, five different self‐assembly techniques have been reported, including the co‐solvent method, flash nanoprecipitation, evaporation‐induced self‐assembly, solvent‐diffusion‐evaporation‐mediated self‐assembly, and polymerization‐induced self‐assembly. This review article describes various synthetic techniques for creating polymer cubosomes and goes into further depth on recent uses for polymer cubosomes. It is anticipated that this article may offer some helpful guidance to researchers interested in the different applications of polymer cubosomes.