Role of dendritic pendant sizes in the self-assembly of redox-responsive ferrocene-containing polymers to large compound micelles

Abstract

Polymer self-assembly has attracted considerable attention for constructing interesting nanostructures. Dendronized polymers with a linear polymer backbone and dendritic wedges possess the potential to self-assemble into ordered nanostructures in solution. Herein, the self-assembly behaviors of dendronized ferrocenyl polymers are investigated in aqueous solution. After being oxidized with FeCl3·6H2O, dendronized ferrocenyl polymers form positively charged ferrocenium-containing polyelectrolytes to generate nano-objects in aqueous solution. In addition, the supramolecular polymers obtained from the host–guest interactions between ferrocenyl units and β-cyclodextrin are also able to form nano-objects in aqueous solution. Whereafter, both the oxidized and supramolecular polymers are used to encapsulate Rhodamine B, resulting in the cargo-loaded self-assembly. All self-assembly experiments demonstrate that the dendritic effects would drive ferrocenyl polymers to self-assemble from small micelles to large compound micelles. The ferrocenyl polymers with larger dendritic pendant sizes have a more obvious tendency to self-assemble into large compound micelles. The current work gives a chance to understand the self-assembly behaviors of dendronized polymers, which is expected to generate ordered nanostructures.