Topology and Kinetic Pathways of Colloidosome Assembly and Disassembly

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Abstract

Liquid shells, such as lipid vesicles, emulsions, and soap bubbles, are ubiquitous throughout biology, engineered matter, and everyday life. Their creation or disintegration is defined by a singularity separating topologically distinct one-boundary extended liquid films from boundary-free closed shells. Controlling such topology-changing processes is essential in organelle formation, inter-cellular transport, trans-cellular communication, and drug delivery. While theory provided valuable insights, visualizing conformations near the topology-changing singularity is challenging due to the small size and rapid dynamics. Here, we study the formation and disassembly of colloidosomes, micron-sized analogs of lipid vesicles, revealing their structure with near molecular detail. Experimental control slows down the dynamics in the vicinity of topological singularity from milliseconds to hours, revealing the quasi-static pathway with the lowest energy barrier. Surprisingly, closed vesicles transform into one-boundary disks through a topologically more complex cylinder-like intermediate with two boundaries. These results provide insights into universal aspects of topological changes in lipid vesicles and related liquid shells. They also provide a platform for developing porous colloidosomes with implications including nanoparticle filtration, encapsulation, transport, and drug delivery.

Keywords

Biological physics

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