Single molecule visualization of stable, stiffness-tunable, flow-conforming worm micelles

We describe fluorescence visualization of highly stable worm micelle superpolymers. The worm micelles are self-assembled in water from nonionic, block copolymer amphiphiles. By blending and polymerizing inert and cross-linkable copolymers, we form micelles up to tens of microns long with persistence lengths that continuously span more than 2 orders of magnitude from submicron to submillimeter. In flow, pristine worms orient and stretch with DNA-like scaling, and their stability, loading capacity, and stealthiness make them ideal candidates for flow-intensive delivery applications such as phage-mimetic drug carriers and micropore delivery.