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Spontaneous Assembly of Miktoarm Stars into Vesicular Interpolyelectrolyte Complexes
Author(s) -
Plamper Felix A.,
Gelissen Arjan P.,
Timper Jan,
Wolf Andrea,
Zezin Alexander B.,
Richtering Walter,
Tenhu Heikki,
Simon Ulrich,
Mayer Joachim,
Borisov Oleg V.,
Pergushov Dmitry V.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.201300053
Subject(s) - materials science , ethylene oxide , transmission electron microscopy , polymersome , polymer , polymer chemistry , cationic polymerization , poly ethylene , membrane , vesicle , star polymer , soft matter , morphology (biology) , chemical engineering , oxide , polymer science , self assembly , copolymer , nanotechnology , composite material , ethylene , chemistry , amphiphile , colloid , organic chemistry , engineering , biochemistry , metallurgy , catalysis , biology , genetics
Mixing a bis‐hydrophilic, cationic miktoarm star polymer with a linear polyanion leads to the formation of unilamellar polymersomes, which consist of an interpolyelectrolyte complex (IPEC) wall sandwiched between poly(ethylene oxide) brushes. The experimental finding of this rare IPEC morphology is rationalized theoretically: the star architecture forces the assembly into a vesicular shape due to the high entropic penalty for stretching of the insoluble arms in non‐planar morphologies. The transmission electron microscopy of vitrified samples (cryogenic TEM) is compared with the samples at ambient conditions (in situ TEM), giving one of the first TEM reports on soft matter in its pristine environment.