Gradient Structure-Induced Temperature Responsiveness in Styrene/Methyl Methacrylate Gradient Copolymers Micelles

In this work, micelles are formed by gradient copolymer of styrene and methyl methacrylate in acetone–water mixture and their temperature responsiveness is investigated in a narrow range near room temperature. Three different kinds of structural transitions could be induced by temperature: unimers t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Macromolecular rapid communications. 2014-02, Vol.35 (3), p.309-316
Main Authors: Zheng, Chao, Huang, Haiying, He, Tianbai
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Chains
Copolymers
Exact sciences and technology
gradient copolymer
Methylmethacrylates - chemistry
micelle
Micelles
Molecular Structure
Organic polymers
Physicochemistry of polymers
Polymethyl methacrylates
Polystyrenes - chemistry
Properties and characterization
Solution and gel properties
Solvents
Stretching
structural transitions
Styrene
Styrenes
Temperature
temperature responsiveness
Vesicles
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Summary:In this work, micelles are formed by gradient copolymer of styrene and methyl methacrylate in acetone–water mixture and their temperature responsiveness is investigated in a narrow range near room temperature. Three different kinds of structural transitions could be induced by temperature: unimers to micelle transition, shrinkage/stretching of micelles, and morphological transition from spherical micelles to vesicles. In addition, a model analysis on the interface of gradient copolymer micelle is made to better understand these phenomena. It is found that both position and composition of the interface could alter in response to the change in temperature. According to the experiments and model analysis, it is proposed that temperature responsiveness might be an intrinsic and universal property of gradient copolymer micelles, which only originates from the gradient structure. Temperature responsiveness in gradient copolymer micelles is investigated. Three different structural transitions could be induced by temperature at different solvent compositions. Combining the model analysis, temperature responsiveness is ascribed to the gradient structure along the chain, which is believed to be an intrinsic property in gradient copolymer micelles.
ISSN:1022-1336
1521-3927
DOI:10.1002/marc.201300769