Nanoparticles Built of Cross-Linked Heterotelechelic, Amphiphilic Poly(dimethylsiloxane)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) Diblock Copolymers

Abstract

Novel short chain R,ω-heterotelechelic amphiphilic poly(dimethylsiloxane)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymers (PDMS-PEO) with total molecular weights below 10 000 g/mol are synthesized, characterized, and used as basic constituent parts for functionalized nanoparticles. The self-assembly of the amphiphilic diblock copolymer in water as a solvent selective for the PEO block leads to the formation of spherical and cylindrical micellar structures with diameters between 10 and 25 nm. The core of the micelles is built of the hydrophobic PDMS chains, whereas the corona is set up by the hydrophilic PEO blocks. By using R,ω-heterotelechelic diblock copolymers, it is possible to fix the core of the micelles by cross-linking of the PDMS-sided (R) methacrylic end groups. The resulting nanoparticles possess the PEO-sided (ω) functional end groups introduced during the synthesis of the amphiphilic diblock copolymer. In the present study, these functionalities are hydrophilic, uncharged hydroxy end groups (-OH), hydrophilic, charged carboxylate (-COOH) end groups, or hydrophobic benzylic end groups (-CH 2C6H5).

Functionalized Cellulose Networks for Efficient Oil Removal from Oil–Water Emulsions

“…PFW is a white, odorless, water-insoluble long chain branch hydrocarbon molecule which contains 20 to 40 carbon atoms in its chain, and is used as a coating, water/moisture barrier, anti-caking and lubricating agent for paper and textiles [25][26][27][28]. PDMS-b-PEO is a nontoxic environmentally friendly hydrophilic semi crystalline diblock copolymer [29][30][31][32], which is used in order to modify the surface properties of polymers, e.g., transform a hydrophobic material into a hydrophilic one [33,34]. Figure 3 shows the scanning electron microscope images (SEM) of the original (untreated) and the modified FP coated with PFW, PDMS-b-PEO, and PFW/PDMS-b-PEO.…”

Double-Shell Vesicles, Strings of Vesicles and Filaments Found in Crosslinked Micellar Solutions of Poly(1,2-butadiene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) Diblock Copolymers

“…[11 -13] We hope to obtain additional insight into these phenomena by using c-ray induced crosslinking and thus stabilization of these micellar structures in aqueous solution, followed if necessary by fractionation with respect to size and shape, with subsequent structural characterization by scattering techniques, TEM and atomic force microscopy (AFM), [6,7] to also obtain information on the relative amounts of the different structures found in the TEM pictures. …”

Ultralow Friction with Hydrophilic Polymer Brushes in Water as Segregated from Silicone Matrix

“…Preparation of the block copolymers of PDMS and PEG by means of the anionic polymerization [ 27 ] or Pt-catalyzed hydrosilylation [ 28,29 ] has been reported before. The diblock copolymer selected for this study, PDMS(4.7)-b -PEG(5.0), was synthesized by linking corresponding PDMS-N 3 and PEG-alkyne in a Cu (I)-catalyzed "click" reaction [ 30,31 ] ( Scheme 2 , 1-1 ), where the numbers in brackets after the polymer acronyms designate number of average molecular weights ( n M ) in kDa.…”