Encapsulation of aqueous phase systems within microscopic volumes

A freestanding two-dimensional assembly comprising:

• a synthetic, aqueous, multi-phase system comprising two or more chemically dissimilar polymers, said system having a two-phase interface between the polymers;
• and particles on said interface, said polymers capable of converting to a single phase in the vesicle above the phase transition temperature then returning to a multiphase system in the vesicle upon cooling to a temperature below the phase transition temperature;
• said interface having an interfacial tension of between about 0.0001-0.1 dyne/cm;
• whereby the chemically dissimilar polymers are selected from the group consisting of cashew-nut tree gum/PEG, PEG/polyacrylamide, starch/PEG, cellulose/dextran, polysaccharides/PEG, agar/starch, dextran/polyethylene glycol polypropylene glycol copolymer, dextran/polyvinylalcohol, dextran/benzoyldextran, dextan/ficoll, hydroxypropyl starch/PEG, polyvinylalcohol/PEG, maltodextran/PEG, pullulan/PEG, poly(vinyl methyl ether)/PEG, dextran sulfate/PEG, carboxymethyldextran/PEG, dextran sulfate/polystyrene sulfonate, potassium phosphate/PEG, ammonium sulfate/PEG, potassium citrate/PEG, and magnesium sulfate/PEG.

A method of making microscopic volumes comprising:

• forming an aqueous multi-phase system using chemically dissimilar compounds;
• altering one or more factors selected from the group consisting of temperature and composition of the agents to form a single phase system;
• adding the single phase system to one or more vesicle-forming compounds to form a mixture;
• allowing the mixture to hydrate for a time period sufficient to form at least one vesicle;
• and altering one or more factors selected from the group consisting of temperature and composition of the compounds to reform a multi-phase system;
• whereby the aqueous multi-phase system is encapsulated by the vesicle.