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The Effect of Hydrophile Topology in RAFT‐Mediated Polymerization‐Induced Self‐Assembly
Author(s) -
Lesage de la Haye Jennifer,
Zhang Xuewei,
Chaduc Isabelle,
Brunel Fabrice,
Lansalot Muriel,
D'Agosto Franck
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201511159
Subject(s) - copolymer , raft , polymer chemistry , polymerization , amphiphile , acrylate , self assembly , polystyrene , ethylene glycol , emulsion polymerization , vesicle , materials science , styrene , reversible addition−fragmentation chain transfer polymerization , chemical engineering , radical polymerization , chemistry , polymer , membrane , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , composite material , biochemistry , engineering
Polymerization‐induced self‐assembly (PISA) was employed to compare the self‐assembly of different amphiphilic block copolymers. They were obtained by emulsion polymerization of styrene in water using hydrophilic poly( N ‐acryloylmorpholine) (PNAM)‐based macromolecular RAFT agents with different structures. An average of three poly (ethylene glycol acrylate) (PEGA) units were introduced either at the beginning, statistically, or at the end of a PNAM backbone, resulting in formation of nanometric vesicles and spheres from the two former macroRAFT architectures, and large vesicles from the latter. Compared to the spheres obtained with a pure PNAM macroRAFT agent, composite macroRAFT architectures promoted a dramatic morphological change. The change was induced by the presence of PEGA hydrophilic side‐chains close to the hydrophobic polystyrene segment.