Synthesis and characterization of amphiphilic centipede-like copolymer PS-PS-PMAA

Abstract

A well-defined amphiphilic centipede-like copolymer of styrene and methacrylic acid (PS-PS-PMAA) was synthesized by the combination of living anionic polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The synthetic approach involves the first coupling reaction of polystyrene (PS) backbone bearing 1,1-diphenylethene (DPE) pendant groups with living polystyryllithium (PSLi), and sequential anionic polymerization of t-butyl methacrylate (tBMA) initiated by resulting 1,1-diphenylmethyl anion, and final hydrolysis of obtained PS-PS-PtBMA. The centipede-like copolymer PS-PS-PMAA was characterized by 1H NMR, IR, GPC, and SLS measurements. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of PS-PS-PMAA in water was determined by fluorescence probe technique. The self-assembly behavior of PS-PS-PMAA in water-THF mixture was observed by TEM. The results showed that the micellar morphology can be varied, such as vesicle, sphere, and agglomerate, depending on the THF content. These phenomena are worthy of further research in polymer physics field.