Polymers 2014, 6(3), 846-859; doi:10.3390/polym6030846
Thermo-Responsive and Biocompatible Diblock Copolymers Prepared via Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer (RAFT) Radical Polymerization
1
Department of Materials Science and Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Hyogo, 2167 Shosha, Himeji, Hyogo 671-2280, Japan
2
Department of Materials Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
3
Faculty of Engineering, Fukui University of Technology, 6-3-1 Gakuen, Fukui 910-8505, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 19 February 2014 / Revised: 6 March 2014 / Accepted: 11 March 2014 / Published: 17 March 2014
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Controlled/Living Radical Polymerization)
Abstract
Poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl phosphorylcholine)-b-poly(N,N-diethyl acrylamide) (PMPCm-PDEAn) was synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) controlled radical polymerization. Below, the critical aggregation temperature (CAT) the diblock copolymer dissolved in water as a unimer with a hydrodynamic radius (Rh) of ca. 5 nm. Above the CAT the diblock copolymers formed polymer micelles composed of a PDEA core and biocompatible PMPC shells, due to hydrophobic self-aggregation of the thermo-responsive PDEA block. A fluorescence probe study showed that small hydrophobic small guest molecules could be incorporated into the core of the polymer micelle above the CAT. The incorporated guest molecules were released from the core into the bulk aqueous phase when the temperature decreased to values below the CAT because of micelle dissociation.Keywords:
block copolymers; micelles; RAFT polymerization; water-soluble polymers; critical aggregation temperature
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Fukuda, K.; Enomoto, R.; Ishihara, K.; Morishima, Y.; Yusa, S.-I. Thermo-Responsive and Biocompatible Diblock Copolymers Prepared via Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer (RAFT) Radical Polymerization. Polymers 2014, 6, 846-859.
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