Abstract
Self-assembling thermo-reversibly gelling anionic and zwitterionic pentablock copolymers were used as templates for precipitation of calcium phosphate nanostructures, controlling their size and ordered structural arrangement. Calcium and phosphate ions were dissolved in a block-copolymer micellar dispersion at low temperatures. Aging at ambient temperature produced inorganic nanoparticles, presumably nucleated by ionic interactions. The self-assembled nanocomposites were characterized by small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering (SAXS/SANS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). 1H−31P NMR with 1H spin diffusion from polymer to phosphate proved the formation of nanocomposites, with inorganic particle sizes from ∼2 nm, characterized by 1H−31P dipolar couplings, to >100 nm. TEM analysis showed polymer micelles surrounded by calcium phosphate. SAXS attested that a significant fraction of the calcium phosphate was templated by the polyme...
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