Fig. 8. Schematic representation and corresponding OsO4 or RuO4 stained TEM images of the solvent-driven hierarchical self-assembly of multicompartment micelles. (A) Schematic of reversible colloidal polymerization. The red corona chains emerge from the black compartments, but are mostly omitted for clarity. (B) ‘Hamburger’ subunits in acetone/isopropanol (90/10). (C) ‘Double burgers’ formed by two ‘hamburgers’ in acetone/isopropanol (80/20). (D) Polymerization of ‘double burgers’ in acetone/isopropanol (50/50). (E) Schematic for the reversible exchange of subunits into spherical multicompartment micelles. (F) ‘Hamburgers’ merge into ‘clovers’ (G) and ‘footballs’ (H) triggered by reduction of solvent quality for the corona (addition of isopropanol from 90/10 to 60/40 to 50/50). Subunits reappear upon the expansion of the corona (addition of acetone from 50/50 to 90/10). Scale bars correspond to 200 nm and 50 nm in insets. Reproduced with permission from ref. 88.
