Reactive surfactants in heterophase polymerization for high performance polymers

 A variety of nonionic reactive surfactants have been prepared from block copolymer precursors. These precursors are formed from a commercially available polyoxyethylene glycol monomethylether as the hydrophilic sequence of the surfactant; this product is used as initiator of ring opening anionic polymerization of butylene oxide. Finally the reactive surfactants are obtained after proper functionalization of the precursor. The reactive surfactants are an inisurf with an asymmetric azo compound, a transurf with a thiol group, and a few surfmers with acrylic, methacrylic, styrenic and α-methyl styrenic reactive groups. These compounds have been engaged in styrene emulsion or dispersion polymerization. Several of them have been found to be useful for preparing stable latices. Received: 22 July 1997 Accepted: 11 December 1997     

Electrostatic hierarchical co-assembly in aqueous solutions of two oppositely charged double hydrophilic diblock copolymers

The formation of spherical micelles in aqueous solutions of poly(N-methyl-2-vinyl pyridinium iodide)-block-poly(ethylene oxide), P2MVP-b-PEO and poly(acrylic acid)-block-poly(vinyl alcohol), PAA-b-PVOH has been investigated with light scattering-titrations, dynamic and static light scattering, and ¹H 2D Nuclear Overhauser Effect Spectroscopy. Complex coacervate core micelles, also called PIC micelles, block ionomer complexes, and interpolyelectrolyte complexes, are formed in thermodynamic equilibrium under charge neutral conditions (pH 8, 1 mM NaNO₃, T = 25 °C) through electrostatic interaction between the core-forming P2MVP and PAA blocks. 2D ¹H NOESY NMR experiments show no cross-correlations between PEO and PVOH blocks, indicating their segregation in the micellar corona. Self-consistent field calculations support the conclusion that these C3Ms are likely to resemble a ‘patched micelle’; that is, micelles featuring a ‘spheres-on-sphere’ morphology.