Fig. 1.

Schematic representations of NIR-emissive polymersomes. (A) In aqueous solution, amphiphilic diblock copolymers of PEO₃₀-PBD₄₆ self assemble into polymer vesicles (polymersomes) with the hydrophobic PBD tails orienting end-to-end to form bilayer membranes. The depicted unilamellar polymersome displays an excised cross-sectional slice illustrating the bilayer PBD membrane (gray) containing the hydrophobic PZn-based NIRFs (red). (B) CAChe-generated sectional schematic of the NIR-emissive polymersome membrane indicating the molecular dimensions of (i) the PBD component of the bilayer (9.6 nm); (ii) the large, dispersed PZn-based NIRFs (2.1 to 5.4 nm); and (iii) a typical liposome membrane (3–4 nm) comprised of phospholipids [1-stearoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosopho-choline (SOPC)]. (C) Chemical structures of NIRFs PZn₂–PZn₅.