We demonstrate that mechanical stress-induced scission is an effective strategy to control the length of self-assembled microtubes. By applying mechanical stress with variable magnitude and mode, the length of microtubes can be tightly regulated. We have succeeded in reducing the average length of microtubes similar to twenty-fold through stretching and compression. The mechanical stress-induced scission of self-assembled, long microtubes into smaller fragments has no adverse effect on the functionality of the microtubes. This work will foster the applications of length-controlled, self-assembled microtubes in various fields.
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