Association of Poly(4-hydroxystyrene)-block-Poly(Ethylene oxide) in Aqueous Solutions: Block Copolymer Nanoparticles with Intermixed Blocks
Abstract
Association behavior of diblock copolymer poly(4-hydroxystyrene)-block-p oly(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.