pH Responsivity and micelle formation of gradient copolymers of methacrylic acid and methyl methacrylate in aqueous solution

A series of gradient copolymers of methacrylic acid (MAA)/methyl methacrylate (MMA) with four end-to-end composition profiles (uniform, linear gradient, triblock with linear gradient midblock, and diblock) but all having an average chain composition of ?F(MMA) ≈ 0.5 and an average chain length of 200 were synthesized via model-based, computer-programmed, semibatch atom-transfer radical copolymerization (ATRcoP). These samples allowed us to investigate systematically the effects of the gradient composition profile on the pH responsivity and micelle formation of the copolymers in an aqueous solution. Measurements included light transmittance, TEM, AFM, DLS, (1)H NMR, and pH titration. It was found that linear gradient, triblock, and diblock copolymers formed spherical micelles at high pH. The micelles of the linear gradient copolymer contained MMA units in their hydrophilic shells, and those of the triblock and diblock copolymers had all of their MMA units residing in their cores. The composition profile showed a strong effect on the degree of acid dissociation at a given pH. The conformational transition of the copolymer chains was determined by both the pH value and composition profile. Copolymers having sharper gradients required a lower pH to trigger the conformational transition and a narrower pH range to complete the transition.     

三嵌段共聚物和两嵌段共聚物在水溶液中共混自组装成多室胶束结构的耗散粒子动力学模拟(英文)

利用耗散粒子动力学模拟研究了在水溶液中混合不同的线形三嵌段共聚物AxByCz和线形两嵌段共聚物AmBn对多室胶束的形貌多样性的影响.通过改变线形的三嵌段共聚物和两嵌段共聚物的链长来寻找多室胶束的形成条件.由线形三嵌段共聚物和线形两嵌段共聚物的不同混合形成的多室胶束结构是多种多样的,例如"蠕虫状"胶束、"汉堡包"胶束、"球上球"胶束、"核-壳-壳"胶束等等.多室胶束的整体形貌和内部结构的控制都可以从线形三嵌段共聚物和两嵌段共聚物的二元共混得到.为了表征获得的多室胶束结构,我们计算了密度图和成对分布函数图.在此工作中,可以获得和观察到复杂的多室胶束.结果表明,简单地混合线形的三嵌段共聚物和线形的两嵌段共聚物是一个控制多室胶束形貌和结构的有效方法,在工程实验中可以更简单更经济地形成多室胶束结构.因此,在设计新的多室胶束方面,聚合物共混仍然是未来值得更加关注的一个话题.     

Aggregation of poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide) block copolymers in aqueous solution: DPD simulation study

The dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulation method was applied to simulate the aggregation behavior of three block copolymers, (EO)16(PO)18, (EO)8(PO)18(EO)8, and (PO)9(EO)16(PO)9, in aqueous solutions. The results showed that the size of the micelle increased with increasing concentration. The diblock copolymer (EO)16(PO)18 would form an intercluster micelle at a certain concentration range, besides the traditional aggregates (spherical micelle, cylindrical micelle, and lamellar phase); while the triblock copolymer (EO)8(PO)18(EO)8 would form a spherical micelle, cylindrical micelle, and lamellar phase with increasing concentration, and (PO)9(EO)16(PO)9 would form intercluster aggregates, as well as a spherical micelle and gel. New mechanisms were given to explain the two kinds of intercluster micelle formed by the different copolymers. It is deduced from the end-to-end distance that the morphologies of the diblock copolymer and triblock copolymer with hydrophilic ends were more extendible than the triblock copolymer with hydrophobic ends.     

Influence of the macromolecular architecture on the self-assembly of amphiphilic copolymers based on poly(N,N-dimethylamino-2-ethyl methacrylate) and poly(epsilon-caprolactone)

The self-assembly of amphiphilic copolymers consisting of poly( N, N-dimethylamino-2-ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) and poly(-caprolactone) (PCL) segments arranged in graft and linear diblock architectures was investigated in this work by means of dynamic light scattering (DLS) in aqueous solution and by atomic force microscopy (AFM) on thin deposits. The solid-state deposits of the micelles were generated by a "freeze-drying" technique that preserves the initial micelle morphology in solution. A comparison between the morphological properties of graft copolymers with corresponding diblock copolymers was established to demonstrate the effect of the copolymer architecture on the micelle structure and organization.     

Synthesis and micelle formation of triblock copolymers of poly(methyl methacrylate)-b-poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) in aqueous solution

Amphiphilic triblock copolymers of poly(methyl methacrylate)-b-poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA-b-PEO-b-PMMA) with well-defined structure were synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) initiated by the PEO macroinitiator. The macroinitiator and triblock copolymer with different PMMA and/or PEO block lengths were characterized with ¹H and ¹³C NMR and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The micelle formed by these triblock copolymers in aqueous solutions was detected by fluorescence excitation and emission spectra of pyrene probe. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) ranged from 0.0019 to 0.016 mg/mL and increased with increasing PMMA block length, while the PEO block length had less effect on the CMC. The partition constant K_v for pyrene in the micelle and in aqueous solution was about 10⁵. The triblock copolymer appeared to form the micelles with hydrophobic PMMA core and hydrophilic PEO loop chain corona. The hydrodynamic radius R_h,app of the micelle measured with dynamic light scattering (DLS) ranged from 17.3 to 24.0 nm and increased with increasing PEO block length to form thicker corona. The spherical shape of the micelle of the triblock copolymers was observed with an atomic force microscope (AFM). Increasing hydrophobic PMMA block length effectively promoted the micelle formation in aqueous solutions, but the micelles were stable even only with short PMMA blocks.     

Effects of block architecture and composition on the association properties of poly(oxyalkylene) copolymers in aqueous solution

A block copolymer of hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide) and a hydrophobic poly(alkylene oxide) can associate in dilute aqueous solution to form micelles. The results of recent investigations of the micellisation behaviour and micelle properties of such copolymers are described. Copolymers of ethylene oxide with propylene oxide, 1,2‐butylene oxide or styrene oxide are considered, including aspects of their preparation. Experimental methods for determination of critical conditions for micellisation, micelle association number and spherical‐micelle radius are summarised. Effects of temperature, composition, block length and block architecture (diblock, triblock and cyclic‐diblock) are described and, where possible, related to the predictions of theory. Brief consideration is given to the dynamics of micelle formation/dissociation, to cylindrical micelles, and to effects of added salts.     

Multicompartment micelles from star and linear triblock copolymer blends

Dissipative particle dynamics simulations were performed on multicompartment micelles formed by blending star and linear triblock copolymers, in which the influences of blending options and blending ratio as well as copolymer chain compositions were studied systematically. The results show that blending of copolymers with different architectures is a promising strategy to control the morphology and structure of multicompartment micelles. This work revealed several new morphologies of multicompartment micelles by blending star and linear triblock copolymers, and the dynamic processes were elucidated at the molecular level by tracing the motions of copolymer chains. The results of this work provide deep insight into micro/mesoscopic details of the underlying mechanisms, contributing to a more complete understanding of multicompartment micelle formation and structural control.     

Micellar aggregation in blends of linear and cyclic poly(styrene-b-isoprene) diblock copolymers

The morphology of micelles formed from blends of linear and cyclic poly(styrene-b-isoprene) (PS-b-PI) block copolymers has been investigated in solution using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and in thin solid deposits by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy under cryogenic conditions (cryo-TEM). Micelles of the pure cyclic PS(290)-b-PI(110) copolymers are wormlike cylindrical objects built by unidirectional aggregation of 33 nm wide sunflower micelles, while the linear block copolymer having the same volume fraction and molar mass forms spherical micelles 40 nm in diameter. The DLS, AFM, and cryo-TEM results consistently show that the addition of the linear copolymer (even for amounts as low as 5% w/w) to the cyclic copolymer rather favors the formation of spherical micelles at the expense of the cylindrical aggregates. Those results clearly show that the linear block copolymer chains can be used to stabilize the thermodynamically unstable elementary sunflower micelle. The thermal stability of the micelles (from the pure copolymers and from the blends) has been examined in solid deposits with in situ AFM measurements. Coalescence starts at about 70 degrees C, and the surface roughness shows a two-step decrease toward a fully homogeneous and flat structure.     

Temperature tunable micellization of polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) at Si-ionic liquid interface

Highly ordered and stable micelles formed from both symmetric and asymmetric block copolymers of polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) at the Si-ionic liquid (IL) interface have been investigated by scanning force microscopy (SFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate IL, a selective and temperature-tunable solvent for the P2VP block, was used and gave rise to block copolymer micelles having different morphologies that strongly depended on the annealing temperature. The effects of film thickness, molecular weight of block copolymers, and experimental conditions, such as preannealing, rinsing, and substrate properties, on the morphologies of block copolymer micelles were also studied. In addition, spherical micelles consisting of PS core and P2VP shell could also be obtained by core-corona inversion by annealing the as-coated micellar film in the IL at high temperatures. The possible mechanism for micelle formation is discussed.     

Self-assembled polypeptide-block-poly(vinylpyrrolidone) as prospective drug-delivery systems

Poly(β-benzyl-l-aspartate)-block-poly(vinylpyrrolidone) diblock copolymers (PAsp(OBzl)-b-PVP) having both hydrophobic and hydrophilic segments of various lengths were synthesized by a combination of ATRP and ROP. These amphiphilic diblock copolymers formed polymeric micelles consisting of a hydrophobic PAsp(OBzl) core and a hydrophilic PVP shell in aqueous solution. The block copolymer was characterized using ¹H NMR and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis. Due to its core–shell structure, this block polymer forms unimolecular micelles in aqueous solutions. The micelle properties of PAsp(OBzl)-b-PVP diblock copolymer were extensively studied by dynamic light scattering (DLS), fluorescence spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). PAsp(OBzl)-b-PVP copolymers displayed the lowest CMC and demonstrated little cytotoxicity when exposed to SW-1990 pancreatic cancer cells. In order to assess its application in biomedical area, the anti-inflammation drug prednisone acetate was loaded as the model drug in the polymeric nanoparticles. In vitro release behavior of prednisone acetate was investigated, which showed a dramatic responsive fast/slow switching behavior according to the pH-responsive structural changes of a micelle core structure. All of theses features are quite feasible for utilizing it as a novel intelligent drug-delivery system.     

Cononsolvency-induced micellization of pyrene end-labeled diblock copolymers of N-isopropylacrylamide and oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate

Pyrene end-labeled double hydrophilic diblock copolymers, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-b-poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (Py-PNIPAM-b-POEGMA), were synthesized via consecutive reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization using a pyrene-containing dithioester as the chain transfer agent. These diblock copolymers molecularly dissolve in pure methanol and water, but form well-defined and nearly monodisperse PNIPAM-core micelles in an appropriate mixture of them due to the cononsolvency of PNIPAM block. 1H NMR, laser light scattering, fluorescence spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were employed to characterize the cononsolvency-induced PNIPAM-core micelles. When the volume fraction of water, phi water, in the methanol/water mixture is in the range of 0.5-0.8, the sizes of micelles are in the range of 20-30 nm in radius for Py-PNIPAM50-b- POEGMA18. At phi water = 0.5, the formed micelles possess the highest overall micelle density and the largest molar mass. The effects of varying the block lengths of Py-PNIPAM-b-POEGMA diblock copolymers on the structural parameters of PNIPAM-core micelles have also been explored. Although we can observe the immediate appearance of bluish tinge upon mixing the diblock copolymer solution in methanol with equal volume of water (phi water = 0.5), which is characteristic of the formation of micellar aggregates, the whole micellization process apparently takes a relatively long time to complete, as revealed by monitoring the time dependence of fluorescence emission spectra. The excimer/monomer fluorescence intensity ratios, IE/IM, continuously decrease with time and then reach a plateau value after approximately 20 min. The decrease of IE/IM after the initial formation of pseudo-equilibrium micelles should be ascribed to the structural rearrangement and further packing of PNIPAM segments within the micelle core, restricting the mobility of pyrene end groups and decreasing the probability of contact between them. Compared to the conventional cosolvent approach employed for the micellization of block copolymers in selective solvents, the reported cononsolvency-induced unimer-micelle-unimer transition of Py-PNIPAM-b-POEGMA in methanol/water mixtures has been unprecedented.     

Comparison of the adsorption of cationic diblock copolymer micelles from aqueous solution onto mica and silica

The similarities and differences in the adsorption behavior of diblock poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (XqPDMA-PDEA, where X refers to a mean degree of quaternization of the PDMA of either 0, 10, 50, or 100 mol%) copolymers at the mica/ and silica/aqueous solution interfaces have been investigated. These diblock copolymers form core-shell micelles with the PDEA chains located in the cores and the more hydrophilic PDMA chains forming the cationic micelle coronas at pH 9. These micelles adsorb strongly onto both mica and silica due to electrostatic interactions. In situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) has demonstrated that the mean spacing and the dimension of the adsorbed micelles depend on both the substrate and the mean degree of quaternization of the PDMA blocks. In particular, the morphology of the adsorbed nonquaternized 0qPDMA-PDEA copolymer micelles is clearly influenced by the substrate type: these micelles form a disordered layer on silica, while much more close-packed, highly ordered layers are obtained on mica. The key reasons for this difference are suggested to be the ease of lateral rearrangement for the copolymer micelles attached to the solid substrates and the relative rates of relaxation of the coronal PDMA chains.     

Micellar Behavior of Polystyrene-Poly(Ethylene Oxide) Diblock Copolymers in Aqueous Media: Effect of Copolymer Composition,Temperature, Salt,and Surfactants

Formation and structure of micelles from two amphiphilic polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-PEO) diblock copolymers (PS mol.wt. 1000; PEO mol.wt. 3000 and 5000) were examined by surface tension, viscosity, steady state fluorescence, dynamic light scattering (DLS), small angle neutron scattering (SANS), and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the copolymers in aqueous solution was ca. 0.05%; micelle hydrodynamic diameter was 30–35 nm with a narrow size distribution. SANS studies show that the copolymers form ellipsoidal micelles with semi major axis ～23 nm and semi minor axis ～8 nm. No significant change in the structure was found with temperature and presence of salt. The copolymer micelles interaction with the ionic surfactants sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) was also examined by DLS and SANS.     

Thermoresponsive complex amphiphilic block copolymer micelles investigated by laser light scattering

Poly(isoprene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PI-b-PEO) diblock copolymers form micelles in water. The introduction of poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(propylene oxide)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO) triblock copolymer leads to the formation of mixed micelles through hydrophobic interaction. The dimension of the mixed micelles varies with the weight ratio (r) of PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO to PI-b-PEO. By use of laser light scattering, we have investigated the temperature dependence of the structural evolution of the micelles at different r. At r<10, the size of the mixed micelles decreases with temperature. At r>10, due to the excessive PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO chains in solution, as temperature increases, the mixed micelles aggregate into larger micelle clusters.     

Effect of particle surface selectivity on composite nanostructures in nanoparticle/diblock copolymer mixture dilute solution

In this study the phase behavior of nanoparticle/diblock copolymer composites in dilute solution has been investigated by the hybrid particle-field (HPF) method. We focus on the influence of particle surface selectivity (i.e. hydrophobic and hydrophilic) on the distribution of nanoparticles in the micelles formed by the diblock copolymers. These two types of particle surface selectivity are simulated systematically. The different competition between the energy from enthalpy and the energy from entropy has been observed in the two kinds of composite systems. Our simulation results show that the particle surface selectivity is a crucial factor for determining the thermodynamic properties in the complex dilute solution, and the morphologies of micelles are controlled by the volume fraction of the nanoparticles. The change of particle distribution in various micelles enriches the composite microstructures that can be formed by nanoparticle and diblock copolymer.     

Micellization phenomena of biodegradable amphiphilic triblock copolymers consisting of poly(beta-hydroxyalkanoic acid) and poly(ethylene oxide)

This paper reports the studies on micelle formation of new biodegradable amphiphilic poly(ethylene oxide)-poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate]-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PHB-PEO) triblock copolymer with various PHB and PEO block lengths in aqueous solution. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the micelles took an approximately spherical shape with the surrounding diffuse outer shell formed by hydrophilic PEO blocks. The size distribution of the micelles formed by one triblock copolymer was demonstrated by dynamic light scattering technique. The critical micellization phenomena of the copolymers were extensively studied using the pyrene fluorescence dye absorption technique, and the (0,0) band changes of pyrene excitation spectra were used as a probe for the studies. For the copolymers studied in this report, the critical micelle concentrations ranged from 1.3 x 10(-5) to 1.1 x 10(-3) g/mL. For the same PEO block length of 5000, the critical micelle concentrations decreased with an increase in PHB block length, and the change was more significant in the short PHB range. It was found that the micelle formation of the biodegradable amphiphilic triblock copolymers consisting of poly(beta-hydroxyalkanoic acid) and PEO was relatively temperature-insensitive, which is quite different from their counterparts consisting of poly(alpha-hydroxyalkanoic acid) and PEO.     

Self-assembly of amphiphilic ABC star triblock copolymers and their blends with AB diblock copolymers in solution: self-consistent field theory simulations

The self-assembled morphologies of amphiphilic ABC star triblock copolymers consisting of hydrophilic A blocks and hydrophobic B and C blocks and the blends with their counterpart linear AB diblock copolymers in solution are investigated by 2D real-space implementation of self-consistent field theory (SCFT) simulation. The star triblock copolymers self-assemble in solution to form various micellar structures from hamburger, to segmented wormlike, to toroidal segmented micelles, and finally to vesicles with simultaneously increasing hydrophobic lengths of blocks B and C. When the length of hydrophobic blocks B and C is asymmetric, specific bead-on-string worm micelles are found. Particularly, when the star ABC triblock copolymer is in a strong segregation regime and both B and C blocks are strongly hydrophobic, quite long segmented wormlike micelles are obtained, which had not been found in previously investigated diblock and linear ABC triblock copolymers solution. Additionally, raspberry micelles with beads dispersed on the core also occur in the strong segregation regime of bulk star ABC triblock copolymers. Furthermore, the aggregate morphology of ABC star triblock copolymers is strongly influenced by the addition of linear AB diblock copolymers. The most significant feature is that the long segmented worms will become shorter, to form hamburger micelles with the addition of AB diblock copolymers. These simulations are in good agreement with the experimental findings by Lodge's group.     

嵌段结构对两亲嵌段共聚物水溶液行为的影响

在合成了二种具有相同组成不同嵌段结构排布的共聚物基础上对它们溶液的物理化学行为用荧光探针的方法进行了研究，结果表明：由于结构排布的不同其物理化学行为有着较大的差异，三嵌段结构的共聚物较二嵌段者更易于形成胶束体系，而二嵌段共聚物则易于发生凝胶化，对上述结果进行讨论和解释．     

Morphology of hybrid polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) micelles: analytical ultracentrifugation and SANS studies

Morphology and structure of aqueous block copolymer solutions based on polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) of two different compositions, a cationic surfactant, cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC), and either platinic acid (H2PtCl6.6H2O) or Pt nanoparticles were studied using a combination of analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and small angle neutron scattering (SANS). These studies combining methods contributing supplemental and analogous structural information allowed us to comprehensively characterize the complex hybrid systems and to discover an isotope effect when H2O was replaced with D2O. In particular, TEM shows formation of both micelles and larger aggregates after incorporation of platinic acid, yet the amount of aggregates depends on the H2PtCl6.6H2O concentration. AUC reveals the presence of micelles and micellar clusters in the PS-b-PEO block copolymers solution and even larger (supermicellar) aggregates in hybrids (with CPC). Conversely, SANS applied to D2O solutions of the similar species indicates that micelles are spherical and no other micellar species are found in block copolymer solutions. To reconcile the SANS and AUC data, we carried out AUC examination of the corresponding D2O block copolymer solutions. These measurements demonstrate a pronounced isotope effect on micelle aggregation and micelle size, i.e., no micelle aggregation in D2O solutions, revealing good agreement of AUC and SANS data.