Self-assemblies formed by four-arm star copolymers with amphiphilic diblock arms in aqueous solutions

✍ Scribed by Miroslav Štěpánek; Mariusz Uchman; Karel Procházka

• Book ID: 104087861
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 559 KB
• Volume: 50
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0032-3861
• DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2009.05.024

✦ Synopsis

The self-assembly of two star copolymers, each consisting of four diblock arms of either poly(3-caprolactone)-block-poly(ethylene oxide), PCL-PEO, or polylactide-block-poly(ethylene oxide), PLA-PEO, with PEO blocks in the centers of the stars, have been studied by a combination of light scattering, atomic force microscopy, fluorometry and 1 H NMR spectroscopy. Results of the study show that despite the very similar architecture of both star copolymers, the structures of their self-assembled nanoparticles differ. Unlike the (PLA-PEO) 4 star copolymer which forms core/shell flower-like micelles, the association of the (PCL-PEO) 4 copolymer leads to large micellar aggregates in which individual micelles are interconnected by shared unimers, having joint coronas formed by hydrophilic centers of the stars.