Polymeric micelles formed by splitting of micellar cluster.
Polystyrene-b-poly(acrylic acid) (PS-b-PAA) diblock copolymer chains form aggregates with bimodal distribution in toluene. The introduction of polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) chains leads to the formation of mixed micellar cluster due to the hydrogen-bonding complexation between PAA and PEO. By using laser light scattering and transmission electron microscopy, we have investigated the structural evolution of the mixed micellar cluster. As the standing time increases, the cluster split into regular complex micelles composed of PS-b-PAA and PS-b-PEO chains. Our results reveal that the hydrogen-bonding complexation between PAA and PEO in the core and the repulsion between PS chains in the corona as a function of the molar ratio (r) of PEO to PAA manipulate the evolution.
Xie
Dinghai
D
Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Department of Chemical Physics, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Bai
Wei
W
Xu
Kui
K
Bai
Ruke
R
Zhang
Guangzhao
G