Effect of Butyl α-Hydroxymethyl Acrylate Monomer Structure on the Morphology Produced via Aqueous Emulsion Polymerization-induced Self-assembly

Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) is an efficient and versatile method to afford polymeric nano-objects with polymorphic morphologies. Compared to dispersion PISA syntheses based on soluble monomers, the vast majority of emulsion PISA formulations using insoluble monomers leads to kinetica...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chinese journal of polymer science 2020, Vol.38 (1), p.9-16
Main Authors: Man, Shou-Kuo, Wang, Xiao, Zheng, Jin-Wen, An, Ze-Sheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Block copolymers
Chain mobility
Chain transfer
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Chemical synthesis
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Condensed Matter Physics
Emulsion polymerization
Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering
Molecular chains
Monomers
Morphology
Polyethylene glycol
Polymer Sciences
Polymerization
Self-assembly
Solubility
Vesicles
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Summary:Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) is an efficient and versatile method to afford polymeric nano-objects with polymorphic morphologies. Compared to dispersion PISA syntheses based on soluble monomers, the vast majority of emulsion PISA formulations using insoluble monomers leads to kinetically-trapped spheres. Herein, we present aqueous emulsion PISA formulations generating worms and vesicles besides spheres. Two monomers with different butyl groups, n -butyl ( n BHMA) and tert -butyl ( t BHMA) α -hydroxymethyl acrylate, and thus possessing different water solubilities were synthesized via Baylis-Hillman reaction. Photoinitiated aqueous emulsion polymerizations of n BHMA and t BHMA employing poly(ethylene glycol) macromolecular chain transfer agents (macro-CTAs, PEG 45 -CTA, and PEG 113 -CTA) at 40 °C were systematically investigated to evaluate the effect of monomer structure and solubility on the morphology of the generated block copolymer nano-objects. Higher order morphologies including worms and vesicles were readily accessed for t BHMA, which has a higher water solubility than that of n BHMA. This study proves that plasticization of the core-forming block by water plays a key role in enhancing chain mobility required for morphological transition in emulsion PISA.
ISSN:0256-7679
1439-6203
DOI:10.1007/s10118-019-2303-3