Fielding, L.A., Hendley IV, C.T., Asenath-Smith, E. et al. (2 more authors) (2019) Rationally designed anionic diblock copolymer worm gels are useful model systems for calcite occlusion studies. Polymer Chemistry, 10 (37). pp. 5131-5141. ISSN 1759-9954
Abstract
Binary mixtures of anionic and non-ionic macromolecular chain transfer agents (macro-CTAs) are utilized in order to rationally design diblock copolymer nanoparticles with tunable morphologies and anionic character via pseudo-living radical polymerization. More specifically, poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) and poly(glycerol monomethacrylate) (PGMA) macro-CTAs are pre-mixed prior to reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) aqueous dispersion polymerization of 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA). This strategy facilitates the formation of PHPMA-based diblock copolymer spheres, worm-like micelles and vesicles via polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). The presence of the anionic PMAA stabilizer block has a dramatic impact on the resulting copolymer morphology, particularly if the degree of polymerization (DP) of the PMAA stabilizer chains is longer than that of the PGMA. Two phase diagrams have been constructed to investigate the effect of the relative proportion and molar mass of the two macro-CTAs. Such a systematic approach is essential for the reproducible synthesis of pure worm-like micelles, which occupy relatively narrow phase space. The rheological behavior of a series of soft, free-standing worm gels is investigated. Finally, such gels are examined as model matrices for the growth of biomimetic calcite crystals and the role of the anionic PMAA stabilizer chains in directing crystal growth is evaluated.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 Royal Society of Chemistry. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Polymer Chemistry. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Chemistry (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Engineering and Physical Science Research Council EP/J018589/1; EP/R003009/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 19 Mar 2020 11:48 |
Last Modified: | 29 Aug 2020 00:39 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1039/c9py00889f |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:158570 |