1. Thermo-Reversible Formation of Wormlike Micelles with a Microphase-Separated Corona from a Semicrystalline Triblock Terpolymer.
- Author
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Holger Schmalz, Joachim Schmelz, Markus Drechsler, Jiayin Yuan, Andreas Walther, Kristian Schweimer, and Adriana M. Mihut
- Subjects
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MICELLES , *POLYSTYRENE , *CRYSTALLIZATION , *LIGHT scattering - Abstract
The thermo-reversible formation of wormlike micelles from a polystyrene- block-polyethylene- block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS- b-PE- b-PMMA) triblock terpolymer with a crystallizable middle block in organic media is presented. The formation of wormlike micelles is rather unexpected, because PE containing diblock copolymers usually form platelet-like structures. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations revealed a core−corona structure for the wormlike micelles. The core is formed by crystalline PE domains, and the soluble corona exhibits a patched structure composed of microphase-separated PS and PMMA chains. Microphase separation of the coronal chains was proven by 2D 1H nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) and TEM investigations of selectively stained samples. A combination of various techniques, such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and scanning force microscopy (SFM), indicated that the wormlike micelles might be formed by crystallization-induced aggregation of spherical micelles upon cooling. The presented approach opens an alternative way to produce anisotropic polymer nanostructures with a microphase-separated corona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008
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