title: Supramolecular assemblies from amphiphilic homopolymers: Testing the scope.
abstract: It has been shown by us in a recent communication that homopolymers, in which each repeat unit contains a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic head group, are capable of forming environment-dependent micellar or inverse micellar assemblies. A systematic structure-property relationship study is carried out here to test the scope of the design. We show here that the molecular design is indeed broadly applicable and that there is a significant gain in the critical aggregation concentrations of these polymers, as compared to the small molecule counterparts. We also show that the design can be tuned to achieve vesicle-type assemblies, which further expands the repertoire of amphiphilic homopolymers in a variety of areas. Characterizations of these assemblies have been carried out using transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, static light scattering, and dye incorporation experiments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA.
authors.forename: Elamprakash N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Savariar
authors.forename: Sivakumar V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Aathimanikandan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thayumanavan
mesh_terms: D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D014867:Water