Monodisperse stimuli-responsive colloidosomes by self-assembly of microgels in droplets.

We introduce a novel and versatile technique to fabricate monodisperse stimuli-responsive colloidosomes using stimuli-responsive microgel particles as building blocks, aqueous droplets as templates, and microfluidic devices to control the assembly. Our colloidosomes exhibit approximately 80% decrease in volume when actuated; thus, they can be of immense potential in applications that require targeted pulsed-release of active materials. The use of microfluidics allows fabrication of extremely monodisperse colloidosomes. Alternatively, our technique can also be combined with bulk emulsification techniques to produce large quantities of colloidosomes for various applications.