Farmer, M.A.H. orcid.org/0009-0008-9645-6921, Musa, O.M. and Armes, S.P. orcid.org/0000-0002-8289-6351 (2024) Jeffamine-based diblock copolymer nanoparticles via reverse sequence polymerization-induced self-assembly in aqueous media. Polymer, 310. 127474. ISSN 0032-3861
Abstract
Jeffamines® are commercially available amine-capped poly (alkylene oxides) that have been used for various applications. In this study, a weakly hydrophobic monoamine-capped propylene oxide-rich Jeffamine® (M2005) is derivatized to introduce a trithiocarbonate end-group via amidation. This precursor is then dissolved using N,N′-dimethylacrylamide (DMAC), 2-(N-acryloyloxy)ethyl pyrrolidone (NAEP) or N-acryloylmorpholine (NAM) as a co-solvent to produce a concentrated aqueous reaction mixture containing 20 % w/w water. Subsequently, reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization is used to prepare Jeffamine®-core diblock copolymer nanoparticles by reverse sequence polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). At intermediate conversion, additional degassed water is added and each polymerization continues to almost full conversion (>99 %) within 4 h at 60 °C, resulting in a 10–20 % w/w aqueous dispersion of sterically-stabilized Jeffamine®-core nanoparticles. Efficient chain extension of the Jeffamine® precursor is achieved in most cases and relatively narrow molecular weight distributions are obtained (Mw/Mn < 1.30) as judged by GPC analysis. Transmission electron microscopy studies confirm a polydisperse spherical morphology and dynamic light scattering studies report hydrodynamic diameters ranging from 145 to 312 nm. Finally, aqueous electrophoresis studies indicate essentially neutral nanoparticles over a wide range of solution pH, as expected for the three types of non-ionic steric stabilizer chains selected for this study.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry; Chemical Sciences; Physical Chemistry; Bioengineering; Nanotechnology |
Dates: |
|
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/R003009/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 21 Aug 2024 09:36 |
Last Modified: | 21 Aug 2024 09:36 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.polymer.2024.127474 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:216264 |