Amphiphilic block copolymer self-assemblies of poly(NVP)-b-poly(MDO-co-vinyl esters): tunable dimensions and functionalities

Guillaume G. Hedir, A. Pitto-Barry, Andrew P. Dove, Rachel K. O'Reilly

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Functional, degradable polymers were synthesized via the copolymerization of vinyl acetate (VAc) and 2‐methylene‐1,3‐dioxepane (MDO) using a macro‐xanthate CTA, poly(N‐vinylpyrrolidone), resulting in the formation of amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(NVP)‐b‐poly(MDO‐co‐VAc). The behavior of the block copolymers in water was investigated and resulted in the formation of self‐assembled nanoparticles containing a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic corona. The size of the resultant nanoparticles was able to be tuned with variation of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments of the core and corona by changing the incorporation of the macro‐CTA as well as the monomer composition in the copolymers, as observed by Dynamic Light Scattering, Static Light Scattering, and Transmission Electron Microscopy analyses. The concept was further applied to a VAc derivative monomer, vinyl bromobutanoate, to incorporate further functionalities such as fluorescent dithiomaleimide groups throughout the polymer backbone using azidation and “click” chemistry as postpolymerization tools to create fluorescently labeled nanoparticles.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2699-2710
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Polymer Science. Part A: Polymer Chemistry
Volume53
Issue number23
Early online date10 Oct 2015
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2015

Keywords

  • block copolymers
  • cyclic ketene acetal
  • degradable
  • nanoparticles
  • self-assembly

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