Formation of internally nanostructured triblock copolymer particles

Particles with an internal structure have been found in dilute water solutions of a triblock copolymer of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(propylene oxide) (PPO), which has short hydrophilic PEO endblocks compared to the central hydrophobic PPO block (EO5PO68EO5, L121). The properties of the block copolymer particles (i.e., their structure, size, and time stability) have been investigated using cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) in combination with dynamic light scattering (DLS) and turbidity measurements. The particles were formed in dilute solutions by quenching the temperature to temperatures where the reversed hexagonal phase is in equilibrium with a solution of unaggregated L121 copolymers (L1). From the DLS measurements, a mean hydrodynamic radius of 158 nm was extracted. The time-scan turbidity measurements were found to be unchanged for about 46 h. At higher copolymer concentrations, a reversed hexagonal phase (H2) exists in the L121/water system. SAXS was used to investigate the internal structure of the dispersed L121-based particles containing 15 wt % L121. It was found that the internal structure transforms from H2 to an inverse micellar system (L2) as the temperature increases from 37 to 70 degrees C.