Synthesis of High ?-Low N Diblock Copolymers by Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly.

ABSTRACT: Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) enables the scalable synthesis of functional block copolymer nanoparticles with various morphologies. Herein we exploit this versatile technique to produce so-called "high ?-low N" diblock copolymers that undergo nanoscale phase separation in the solid state to produce sub-10?nm surface features. By varying the degree of polymerization of the stabilizer and core-forming blocks, PISA provides rapid access to a wide range of diblock copolymers, and enables fundamental thermodynamic parameters to be determined. In addition, the pre-organization of copolymer chains within sterically-stabilized nanoparticles that occurs during PISA leads to enhanced phase separation relative to that achieved using solution-cast molecularly-dissolved copolymer chains.

SUBMITTER: Jennings J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7317809 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature