title: Force required to disassemble block copolymer micelles in water.
abstract: The force required to disassemble block copolymer micelles in water has been directly investigated via atomic force microscopy-based single-molecule force spectroscopy. The force needed to disassemble block copolymer micelles of poly(acrylic acid)-polyfluorene-poly(acrylic acid) in water is found to be 23 pN. The force increases as the stretching velocity increases, indicating that micelle disassembly is a dynamic process. In addition, the disassembly force is sensitive to the properties of the solvents. This study represents the first attempt to employ single-molecule force spectroscopy to directly measure the force needed to disassemble block copolymer micelles in water.
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Organic Optoelectronics and Molecular Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Guanglu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang