Encapsulation of the Fullerene Derivative [6,6]-Phenyl-C₆₁-Butyric Acid Methyl Ester inside Micellar Structures

Abstract

The solubilization and micellar encapsulation of fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C 61 -butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) have been investigated by the use of the amphiphilic block copolymer polystyrene-blockpoly[ethylene oxide] (PS-b-PEO). Aqueous solutions were formed, starting from a codissolution of PCBM and PS-b-PEO in a mixture of chlorobenzene and ethanol, inducing micellization by replacing the common solvent chlorobenzene with water, using evaporation at 65 °C. The control of the experimental process has permitted us to obtain only two kinds of micellar morphologies encapsulating PCBM: small spheres whose diameters increase as a function of the PCBM concentration, from approximately 60 to 120 nm, and wormlike micelles with diameters smaller than 60 nm and lengths ranging from a few hundred nanometers to several micrometers. The optical properties reflect the expected encapsulation of PCBM. Furthermore, we show that the optical properties of the confined PCBM molecules can be modified by varying the quantity of fullerenic molecules in the micellar structures, which is due to the PCBM packing, as shown by our density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Continuous fibrils from the self-assembly of monochelic polymeric porphyrin and PEGylated fullerene

“…hydrogen bonding, Van der Waals forces, coulomb and hydrophobic interactions is an exciting challenge with quite interesting applications. [20][21][22] The donor-acceptor chemistry of porphyrin and fullerene has been widely explored; however, to the best of our knowledge such monochelic polymeric porphyrin and fullerene polymers have never been accessed, for their mutual morphology investigations. Furthermore, the side chains can favour the lateral aggregates, 23 and the porphyrinfullerene adducts with strong segregation forces between their respective PS and PEO arms, 24 could give interesting insights into their combined morphology.…”

Self-Stabilized Giant Aggregates in Water from Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids with an Asymmetric Polar–Apolar–Polar Architecture

“…This conclusion is also consistent with the variation of the optical density at 550 nm, which reaches a maximum also at W C60/ 1 = 1:10 (Figure c). If the trace incompletely solubilized C 60 is neglected, the concentration of C 60 for this sample can be calculated to be 0.2 mg·mL –1 , which is a considerably high value in aqueous solutions containing noncovalently wrapped C 60 . ,− …”

Preparation and Investigation of Amphiphilic Block Copolymers/Fullerene Nanocomposites as Nanocarriers for Hydrophobic Drug

“…However, this apolar character also makes fullerene poorly soluble in physiological media and limit its use in biology. Generally, a suitable chemical modification for fullerene is designed to resolve their poor dispersion for biological applications [ 26 , 27 ]. It should be noted that the surface chemical modification may also cause damage to the physicochemical properties of fullerene.…”