“Sandglass”-Shaped Self-Assembly of Coil–rod–coil Triblock Copolymer Containing Rigid Aniline-Pentamer

✍ Scribed by Lihong Huang; Jun Hu; Le Lang; Xiuli Zhuang; Xuesi Chen; Yen Wei; Xiabin Jing

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 291 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1022-1336
• DOI: 10.1002/marc.200800115

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The amphiphilic PEG~1~ ~500~‐b‐EM AP‐b‐PEG~1~ ~500~ (EM PAP) triblock copolymer of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and emeraldine aniline‐pentamer (EM AP) in its concentrated solution can self‐assemble into a special shape like “sandglass”, as observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This “sandglass”‐shaped assembly is composed of several “rods” aggregated in the middle, with every “rod” being about 8 µm in length and 300 nm in diameter. We conclude that the special “sandglass”‐shaped assembly may come into being because of the inducement effect of the crystallization of EM AP segments, by studying electron diffraction (ED) results and wide‐angle X‐ray diffusion (WAXD) characterization of the EM PAP triblock copolymer.

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