title: Monodisperse Cylindrical Micelles of Controlled Length with a Liquid-Crystalline Perfluorinated Core by 1D "Self-Seeding".
abstract: Precise control over the morphology and dimensions of block copolymer (BCP) micelles has attracted interest due to the potential of this approach to generate functional nanostructures. Incorporation of liquid crystalline (LC) block can provide additional ways to vary micellar morphologies, but the formation of uniform micelles with controllable dimensions from LC BCPs has not yet been realized. Herein, we report the preparation of monodisperse cylindrical micelles with a LC poly(2-(perfluorooctyl)ethyl methacrylate (PFMA) core via a fragmentation-thermal annealing (F-TA) process, resembling the "self-seeding" process of crystalline BCP micelles. The average length of the cylinders increases with annealing temperature, with a narrow length distribution (Lw /Ln <1.1). We also demonstrate the potential application of the cylinders with LC cores as a cargo-carrier by the successful incorporation of a hydrophobic fluorescent dye tagged with a fluorooctyl group.
authors: School of Material Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P.R. China. xiaoyuli@bit.edu.cn.
authors: Xiaoyu
authors: X
authors: Li
authors: School of Material Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P.R. China.
authors: Bixin
authors: B
authors: Jin
authors: School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P.R. China.
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Gao
authors: School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK.
authors: Dominic W
authors: DW
authors: Hayward
authors: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada.
authors: Mitchell A
authors: MA
authors: Winnik
authors: School of Material Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P.R. China. yjluo@bit.edu.cn.
authors: Yunjun
authors: Y
authors: Luo
authors: School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK. ian.manners@bristol.ac.uk.
authors: Ian
authors: I
authors: Manners
keywords: block copolymers; cylindrical micelles; liquid crystalline; self-assembly; self-seeding