Synthesis and characterisation of novel composite nano particles

The internally supported liposome (ISL) is a novel composite nano particle which incorporates polymeric nano sphere enclosed by a lipid bilayer. The purpose of the polymeric nano sphere is to act as an internal support and thereby help overcome instabilities originating from the high curvature the lipid bilayer (which is a particular problem in small liposomes) whilst maintaining bilayer functionality. Although very little research has been done on ISLs, understanding their properties could have important implications for many areas of scientific endeavour, including elucidating the origins of enveloped virus stability, developing improved drug and gene delivery systems, advancing liposome biophysics, creating synthetic biological components and eventually self-replicating machines. Here, I present preliminary results for the synthesis and characterisation of a model ISL system. The work is focused on elucidating the relationship between ISL structure and stability, which is expected to generate possible avenues for developing new functional materials.