title: Influence of ionic liquids on the critical micellization temperature of a tri-block co-polymer in aqueous media.
abstract: To explore the role of additives in controlling the critical micellization temperature (CMT) of a block copolymer in aqueous solution, in the present work, a series of ionic liquids (ILs) containing the same cation, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium, bmim(+) and commonly used anions such as SCN(-), BF4(-), I(-), Cl(-), CH3COO(-) and HSO4(-) were chosen for study with a triblock copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol), (PEG-PPG-PEG) in aqueous solution. The present results suggest that the ability of ILs for decreasing the polymer CMT is mainly a result of not only from charge and size of anions of the ILs, but also due to the weak ion-ion pair interactions within IL. The present study provides important information that can be helpful to tune the IL- or temperature-sensitive copolymer CMT and micelle shapes which are crucial for understanding the drug delivery mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India. Electronic address: pmadhusudhanreddychem@gmail.com.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Madhusudhana Reddy
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India. Electronic address: venkatesup@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Venkatesu
keywords: Critical micellization temperature; Ionic liquids; Triblock copolymer