Platelet self-assembly of a tetrablock copolymer in pure water

ORAL

Abstract

An amphiphilic tetrablock copolymer was synthesized via anionic polymerization, selective hydrogenation and sulfonation to create an A-B-C-A polymer where the hydrophilic ends are poly(styrene sulfonate) and the middle blocks are incompatible poly (methyl butylene) and poly (ethyl ethylene). The aggregation behavior of these polymers in water was studied using dynamic and static light scattering as well as light and electron microscopy. Both scattering and direct imaging experiments are consistent with monodisperse (s = 0.14) monolayer platelets with radii of 147 nm at 45 °C, while at temperatures below 38 °C we find coexistence of the platelets with micelles.

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Authors

  • Enrique Gomez

    University of California, Berkeley

  • Timothy Rappl

    University of California, Berkeley

  • Vivek Agarwal

  • Arijit Bose

    University of Rhode Island

  • Carlos Marques

    LDFC

  • Nitash Balsara

    University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Univ. of California-Berkeley, University of California, Berkeley