title: Temperature-driven self-assembly of self-limiting uniform supraparticles from non-uniform unimolecular micelles.
abstract: In this work, the self-assembly of non-uniform unimolecular micelles constituted of a hyperbranched polyester core decorated with a corona of thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) chains has been studied. As revealed by dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), these unimicelles form uniform supraparticles through a thermally-induced self-limited process, as well as exhibit molecular features commonly observed in PNIPAm-based gels. We believe that these results provide new insights into the application of stimuli-responsive polymeric materials as versatile building blocks to build up soft supraparticles displaying well-defined dimensional characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA), Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), CONICET, CC. 16 Suc. 4, 1900 La Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: Agustín S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Picco
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Chemistry, SBA School of Science and Engineering, LUMS, Lahore 54792, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Basit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yameen
authors.affiliation: Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Donau-City-Strasse 1, 1220 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Knoll
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA), Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), CONICET, CC. 16 Suc. 4, 1900 La Plata, Argentina. Electronic address: mceolin@inifta.unlp.edu.ar.
authors.forename: Marcelo R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Ceolín
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA), Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), CONICET, CC. 16 Suc. 4, 1900 La Plata, Argentina. Electronic address: azzaroni@nifta.unlp.edu.ar.
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Azzaroni
keywords: Hyperbranched polymers; PNIPAm; Self-assembly; Self-limited growth; Supramolecular assembly; Supraparticles; Unimolecular micelles