Morphology Transformation of a Polymeric Micelle Induced by Two Encapsulated Particles

We begin with a pair of spherical particles encapsulated in a micelle and solve the problem within the self-consistent field theory to investigate the morphology transformation of the micelle induced by two nano-particles. The micelles are based on amphiphilic diblock copolymer AB in homopolymer A solvents. The nano-particles are simple models of proteins or colloids. We predict different micelle structures, and relate these morphologies to particle sizes, distances between two particles, and chemical potentials of the amphiphile molecules. There are found complex structures of the micelle induced by the twin particles: many reverse micelles only with even numbers or only one micelle attached at one of the two particles. These results are of immediate interests to the interactions of micelles and particles, as well as to the transitions between vesicles and micelles.