Critical micellization density: A small-angle-scattering structural study of the monomer-aggregate transition of block copolymers in supercritical CO2
In this paper we report a small-angle neutron-scattering investigation of micelle formation by the fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon block copolymer, polyvinyl acetate-b-poly (1,1,2, 2-tetrahydroperfluoro-octyl acrylate) in supercritical CO2 (scCO(2)) at 313 K. At high pressure the copolymer is in a monomeric state with a random coil structure, while at low pressure the polymer forms spherical aggregates stable in a wide range of thermodynamic conditions. By profiling pressure, a sharp monomer-micelle transition is obtained due to the tuning of the solvating ability of scCO(2). We confirm the previous finding that this aggregate-monomer transition is driven by the gradual penetration of CO2 molecules toward the core of the aggregate and is critically related to the density of the solvent, thus giving additional support to the concept of a critical micellization density reported earlier on a similar polymer.
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Dipartimento di Chimica Fisica, Universita di Palermo, Palermo, Italy and HMI, Berlin, Germany.
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Lo Celso F
Betts
DE
McClain
JB
DeSimone
JM
Wignall
GD
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