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Updated: Aug 2, 2026

Controlling the Size, Shape and Stability of Supramolecular Polymers in Water
Published on: August 2, 2012
Toroid Formation through a Supramolecular "Cyclization Reaction" of Rodlike Micelles
Chaoying Yang1, Liang Gao1, Jiaping Lin1
1Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China.
Abstract:
Constructing polymeric toroids with a uniform, tunable size is challenging. Reported herein is the formation of uniform toroids from poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate)-graft-poly(ethylene glycol) (PBLG-g-PEG) graft copolymers by a two-step self-assembly process. In the first step, uniform rodlike micelles are prepared by dialyzing the polymer dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF)/N,N'-dimethylformamide (DMF) against water. With the addition of THF in the second step, the rodlike micelles curve and then close end-to-end to form uniform toroids, which resemble a cyclization reaction.
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