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Facile One‐Pot Synthesis of Functional Giant Polymeric Vesicles Controlled by Oscillatory Chemistry
Author(s) -
Bastakoti Bishnu Prasad,
PerezMercader Juan
Publication year - 2017
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.201703816
Subject(s) - micelle , copolymer , polymersome , amphiphile , vesicle , chain transfer , polymerization , acrylate , polymer chemistry , chemistry , nanoreactor , monomer , polyethylene glycol , materials science , radical polymerization , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , nanoparticle , organic chemistry , polymer , aqueous solution , membrane , biochemistry , engineering
Abstract We introduce a novel application of an oscillatory chemical reaction to the synthesis of block copolymers. The Belousov–Zhabotinsky (B‐Z) reaction is coupled with the polymerization of an amphiphilic block copolymer. Radicals generated in the B‐Z reaction initiate the polymerization between a polyethylene glycol (PEG) macroreversible addition‐fragmentation chain‐transfer agent and butyl acrylate monomers. The attachment of a hydrophobic block on PEG leads to self‐assembly and formation of spherical micelles. The nanoscale micelles transform into submicrometer vesicles and grow to giant vesicles as a consequence of the oscillatory behavior of the B‐Z reaction. The one‐pot synthesis of an amphiphilic di‐block copolymer and retention of oscillatory behavior for the B‐Z reaction with the formation of giant vesicles bring a new insight into possible pathways for the synthesis of active functional microreactors in the range from hundreds of nanometers to tens of micrometers.