화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol.112, No.20, 6358-6362, 2008
Thermoresponsive complex amphiphilic block copolymer micelles investigated by laser light scattering
Poly(isoprene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PI-b-PEO) diblock copolymers form micelles in water. The introduction of poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(propylene oxide)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO) triblock copolymer leads to the formation of mixed micelles through hydrophobic interaction. The dimension of the mixed micelles varies with the weight ratio (r) of PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO to PI-b-PEO. By use of laser light scattering, we have investigated the temperature dependence of the structural evolution of the micelles at different r. At r < 10, the size of the mixed micelles decreases with temperature. At r > 10, due to the excessive PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO chains in solution, as temperature increases, the mixed micelles aggregate into larger micelle clusters.