Abstract
Amphiphilic block-copolymers are known to self-assemble into micelles and vesicles. In this paper, we discuss the multiple options between and beyond these boundaries using amphiphilic AB diblock and ABC triblock copolymers. We adjust the final structure reached by the composition of the mixture, by the preparation temperature, and by varying the time-scale of formation. This leads to the formation of vesicles and micelles, but also internal micelles in larger sheets, lamellar vesicles, and closed tubes, thus broadening the amount of self-assembly structures available and deepening our understanding of them.
Highlights
Polymersomes have shown great potential over the last two decades in the fields of biomimetic self-assembly, drug delivery, and energy
This polymer had a similar block-length ratio as ones reported by Armes et al, who reported that this polymer forms vesicles using polymerisation-induced self-assembly (PISA)
The first polymer for this purpose was PEG45 -PHPMA70 -PDPA30 (Figure 1, E-H-D). This polymer contains a block of PDPA that is more hydrophobic than PHPMA
Summary
Polymersomes have shown great potential over the last two decades in the fields of biomimetic self-assembly, drug delivery, and energy. Using polymerisation-induced self-assembly (PISA), the various self-assembly states of an amphiphilic block-copolymer are studied during its polymerization [16,17,18,19] Such studies as well as studies on vesicle evolvement from a bulk polymer always show a transition from micelles ( multi-compartment micelles) to polymersomes via worms and jellyfish-like structures [14,20,21]. Once vesicles are formed, a vastly longer hydrophobic block either leads to larger vesicle walls or the formation of genus particles as intermediates but to the precipitation of the material [22,23] All these transitions have been reached by comparing amphiphilic block-copolymers of the same chemical structure of the repeating units but different block length ratios. We wanted to avoid phase separation, but induce the formation of different homogeneous self-assembled structures by slight changes of the hydrophobic part, potentially proving that there is a fine balance that determines vesicle stability or the formation of more complex self-assembled structures
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