articleJournal of the American Chemical SocietyAug 17, 2011Closed access

Mechanistic Insights for Block Copolymer Morphologies: How Do Worms Form Vesicles?

ABAdam BlanazsJMJeppe MadsenGBGiuseppe BattagliaAJAnthony J. RyanSPSteven P. Armes

University of Sheffield

PubMed
Indexed incrossrefpubmed

Abstract

Amphiphilic diblock copolymers composed of two covalently linked, chemically distinct chains can be considered to be biological mimics of cell membrane-forming lipid molecules, but with typically more than an order of magnitude increase in molecular weight. These macromolecular amphiphiles are known to form a wide range of nanostructures (spheres, worms, vesicles, etc.) in solvents that are selective for one of the blocks. However, such self-assembly is usually limited to dilute copolymer solutions (99% monomer conversion) at relatively high solids in purely aqueous solution. Furthermore, careful monitoring of the in situ polymerization by transmission electron microscopy reveals various novel intermediate…

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Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Copolymer
  • Amphiphile
  • Vesicle
  • Micelle
  • Polymerization
  • Chemistry
  • Monomer
  • Aqueous solution
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