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Updated: May 26, 2026

Synthesis of Monodisperse Cylindrical Nanoparticles via Crystallization-driven Self-assembly of Biodegradable Block Copolymers
Published on: June 20, 2019
Responsive vesicles from the self-assembly of crystalline-coil polyferrocenylsilane-block-poly(ethylene oxide)
Felix H Schacher1, Johannes Elbert, Sanjib K Patra
1Institute of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry and Jena Center for Soft Matter (JCSM), Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Humboldtstrasse 10, 07743 Jena, Germany. felix.schacher@uni-jena.de
Abstract:
We demonstrate the synthesis and characterization of star-shaped crystalline-coil block copolymers with four arms consisting of an inner block of poly(ethylene oxide) and an outer semicrystalline compartment of poly(ferrocenyldimethylsilane), [PEO(50) -b-PFDMS(35)](4). The materials were synthesized by transition-metal-catalyzed ring-opening polymerization of dimethylsila[1]ferrocenophane in the presence of silane-functionalized four-arm PEO stars as macroinitiators and they exhibited a moderate polydispersity (PDI≅1.4). Self-assembly in mixtures of THF and different alcohols as selective solvents for the PEO block resulted in the formation of semicrystalline vesicles (ethanol, 1-butanol) or large, rather ill-defined, spherical structures (methanol). Further, both the rate of addition of the selective co-solvent and the overall solvent/non-solvent ratio drastically affected the size and stability of the self-assembled particles. We could also show that a photoacid generator, as a model for an active substance, can be encapsulated and the UV-induced generation of HCl resulted in a straightforward degradation of the organometallic vesicles.
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