Journal
POLYMERS
Volume 8, Issue 11, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/polym8110367
Keywords
temperature- and pH-sensibility; micellization; sol-gel transitions
Categories
Funding
- Nation Science Foundation of China [20973106]
- Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University [IRT_14R33]
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Novel temperature- and pH-responsive ABA-type triblock copolymers, P(DEAEMA-co-MEO(2)MA-co-OEGMA)-b-PEG-b-P(DEAEMA-co-MEO(2)MA-co-OEGMA), composed of a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) middle block and temperature- and pH-sensitive outer blocks, were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The composition and structure of the copolymer were characterized by H-1 NMR and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The temperature- and pH-sensitivity, micellization, and the sol-gel transitions of the triblock copolymers in aqueous solutions were studied using transmittance measurements, surface tension, viscosity, fluorescence probe technique, dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta-potential measurements, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the triblock copolymer, which contains a small amount of a weak base group, (N,N-diethylamino) ethyl methacrylate (DEAEMA), can be tuned precisely and reversibly by changing the solution pH. When the copolymer concentration was sufficiently high, increasing temperature resulted in the free-flowing solution transformation into a micellar gel. The sol-to-gel transition temperature (Tsol-gel) in aqueous solution will continue to decrease as solution concentration increases.
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