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Published on: July 9, 2015
Association of poly(4-hydroxystyrene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) in aqueous solutions: block copolymer nanoparticles
Miroslav Štěpánek1, Jana Hajduová, Karel Procházka
1Department of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Hlavova 2030, 12840 Prague 2, Czech Republic. stepanek@natur.cuni.cz
Abstract:
Association behavior of diblock copolymer poly(4-hydroxystyrene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PHOS-PEO) in aqueous solutions and solutions in water/tetrahydrofuran mixtures was studied by static, dynamic, and electrophoretic light scattering, (1)H NMR spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and cryogenic field-emission scanning electron microscopy. It was found that, in alkaline aqueous solutions, PHOS-PEO can form compact spherical nanoparticles whose size depends on the preparation protocol. Instead of a core/shell structure with segregated blocks, the PHOS-PEO nanoparticles have intermixed PHOS and PEO blocks due to hydrogen bond interaction between -OH groups of PHOS and oxygen atoms of PEO and are stabilized electrostatically by a fraction of ionized PHOS units on the surface.

