Dynamics of encapsulation and controlled release systems based on water-in-water emulsions: Liposomes and polymersomes

The deformation relaxation behavior of two types of vesicles, liposomes and polymersomes, was investigated using a general nonequilibrium thermodynamics theory based on the interfacial transport phenomena (ITP) formalism. Liposomes and polymersomes are limiting cases of this theory with respect to rheological behavior of the interfaces. They represent respectively viscous, and viscoelastic surface behavior. We have determined the longest relaxation time for a small perturbation of the interfaces for both these limiting cases. Parameter maps were calculated which can be used to determine when surface tension, bending rigidity, spontaneous curvature, interfacial permeability, or surface rheology dominate the response of the vesicles. In these systems up to nine different scaling regimes were identified for the relaxation time of a deformation with droplet size, with scaling exponent n ranging from 0 to 4.