A Single Thermoresponsive Diblock Copolymer Can Form Spheres, Worms or Vesicles in Aqueous Solution

Abstract

It is well‐known that the self‐assembly of AB diblock copolymers in solution can produce various morphologies depending on the relative volume fraction of each block. Recently, polymerization‐induced self‐assembly (PISA) has become widely recognized as a powerful platform technology for the rational design and efficient synthesis of a wide range of block copolymer nano‐objects. In this study, PISA is used to prepare a new thermoresponsive poly(N‐(2‐hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide)‐poly(2‐hydroxypropyl methacrylate) [PHPMAC‐PHPMA] diblock copolymer. Remarkably, TEM, rheology and SAXS studies indicate that a single copolymer composition can form well‐defined spheres (4 °C), worms (22 °C) or vesicles (50 °C) in aqueous solution. Given that the two monomer repeat units have almost identical chemical structures, this system is particularly well‐suited to theoretical analysis. Self‐consistent mean field theory suggests this rich self‐assembly behavior is the result of the greater degree of hydration of the PHPMA block at lower temperature, which is in agreement with variable temperature 1H NMR studies.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.201909124
Divisions: College of Engineering & Physical Sciences
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > School of Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering > Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry
Additional Information: © 2019 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Publication ISSN: 1521-3773
Last Modified: 30 Sep 2024 12:19
Date Deposited: 07 Jan 2020 13:25
Full Text Link: https://onlinel ... /ange.201909124
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PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2019-12-17
Published Online Date: 2019-11-06
Accepted Date: 2019-09-30
Authors: Ratcliffe, Liam P. D.
Derry, Matthew J. (ORCID Profile 0000-0001-5010-6725)
Ianiro, Alessandro
Tuinier, Remco
Armes, Steven P.

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