Rheology and Structures of Aqueous Gels of Diblock(Oxyethylene/Oxybutylene) Copolymer E22B7

Aqueous gels of mixtures of ionic surfactant SDS with pluronic copolymers P123 or F127

Gel diagrams based on tube inversion and oscillatory rheometry are reported for Pluronic copolymers F127 (E(98)P(67)E(98)) and P123 (E(21)P(67)E(21)) in mixtures with anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Total concentrations (c, SDS+copolymer) were as high as 50 wt % with mole ratios SDS/copolymer (mr) in the ranges 1-5 (F127) and 1-7 (P123). Temperatures were as high as 90 degrees C. Determination of the temperature dependences of the dynamic moduli served to confirm the gel boundaries from tube inversion and to reveal the high elastic moduli of the gels, e.g., compared at comparable positions in the gel phase, a 50 wt % SDS/P123 with mr = 7 had G' three times that of a corresponding gel of P123 alone. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) was used to show that the structures of all the SDS/F127 gels were bcc and that the structures of the SDS/P123 gels with mr = 1 were either fcc (c = 30 wt %) or hex (c = 40 wt %). Assignment of structures to SDS/P123 gels with values of mr in the range 3-7 was more difficult, as high-order scattering peaks could be very weak, and at the higher values of c and mr, the SAXS peaks included multiple reflections.

Effect of Copolymer Architecture on the Micellization and Gelation of Aqueous Solutions of Copolymers of Ethylene Oxide and Styrene Oxide

The micellar properties and solubilization capacity of poorly water soluble drugs of several micellar and gel solutions of diblock and triblock copolymers of styrene oxide/ethylene oxide have been measured and compared with block copolymers of butylene oxide/ethylene oxide, showing that the solubilization capacity of the styrene oxide block is approximately four times that of a butylenes oxide block for dilute solutions. To continue establishing the correlation between micellar characteristics and solubilization capacity, we have found it interesting to compare the micellar and gelation properties of the diblock and triblock copolymers PSO10PEO135 and PEO69PSO8PEO69 (subindexes are the number-average block lengths), with different architecture but similar average block lengths. Surface tension measurements allowed the determination of the critical micelle concentrations at several temperatures and, so, to calculate standard enthalpies of micellization. Static and dynamic light scattering data permitted us to determine micellar parameters and to obtain qualitatively the extent of hydration of the copolymer micelle. A tube inversion method was used to define the mobile-immobile (soft-hard gel) phase boundary. To refine the phase diagram and observe the existence of additional phases, rheological measurements were done. The results are in good agreement with previous values published for PSOnPEOm and PEOmPSOnPEOm copolymers.

Structural analysis of PEO-PBO copolymer monolayers at the air-water interface

X-ray reflectivity (XR) and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) have been used to examine an oxyethylene-b-oxybutylene (E(23)B(8)) copolymer film at the air-water interface. The XR data were fitted using both a one- and a two-layer model that outputted the film thickness, roughness, and electron density. The best fit to the experimental data was obtained using a two-layer model (representing the oxyethylene and oxybutylene blocks, respectively), which showed a rapid thickening of the copolymer film at pressures above 7 mN/m. The large roughness values found indicate a significant degree of intermixing between the blocks and back up the GIXD data, which showed no long range lateral ordering within the layer. It was found from the electron density model results that there is a large film densification at 7 mN/m, possibly suggesting conformational changes within the film, even though no such change occurs on the pressure-area isotherm at the same surface pressure.

Micelles and gels of mixed triblock copoly(oxyalkylene)s in aqueous solution

The micellization in dilute aqueous solution of a 50/50 wt% mixture of two triblock copolymers, E45B14E45 and E62P39E62, and the gelation of concentrated micellar solutions have been investigated over a range of temperatures. Here E, B, and P denote oxyethylene, oxubutylene, and oxypropylene chain units. Comparison is made with aqueous solutions of the individual copolymers. The results of light scattering measurements are consistent with effectively separate micellization of the two copolymers in the mixture. Hard gel formed when the extent of micellization was high for both copolymers. Because of the relatively high critical micellization temperatures of copolymer E62P39E62, the low-temperature boundary of the hard gel was high for this copolymer and for the mixture. The minimum concentration for hard-gel formation was higher for the mixture than for either of the individual copolymers, as would be expected for packing of two distributions of micelles of different average size.

Association properties of diblock copolymer of ethylene oxide and 1,2-butylene oxide: E17B12 in aqueous solution

Copolymer E(17)B(12) (E denotes OCH(2)CH(2), B denotes OCH(2)CH(C(2)H(5)), and the subscripts denote number-average chain lengths) was prepared by sequential oxyanionic polymerization and characterized by GPC (for distribution width) and NMR spectroscopy (for absolute composition and chain length). Dynamic and static light scattering and rheometry were used to characterize micelles in dilute solution and demonstrate the formation of compact micelles at low temperatures and of elongated micelles at higher temperatures, the latter being accompanied by turbidity of the solution. Rheological methods applied across a range of concentrations and temperatures served to demonstrate the formation of worm-like micelles. Gels based on entangled worm-like micelles (some of them turbid) and on packed compact micelles were identified and their properties were explored.

Gelation of concentrated micellar solutions of a triblock copolymer of ethylene oxide and styrene oxide, S5E45S5

Triblock copolymer S5E45S5 was synthesized by oxyanionic polymerization of styrene oxide initiated by a preformed difunctional polyethylene glycol. Here E denotes OCH2CH2, S denotes OCH2CH(C6H5), and the subscripts denote number-average block lengths in repeat units. Previous work on the closely related copolymer S4E45S4 indicated that micelles would form in aqueous solutions of copolymer S5E45S5, and that they would undergo transient intermicellar bridging. Dynamic light scattering was used to confirm this. Rheometry and small-angle X-ray scattering were used to explore gel boundaries, structures, and properties. At moderate copolymer concentrations (14 and 20 wt %) measurements of the dynamic shear moduli indicated the formation of low-modulus soft gels attributed to spherical micelles forming transient networks. A region of low storage modulus at c approximately 30 wt % preceded a change to hard gel. A 40 wt % hard gel was disordered, while at higher concentrations (49 and 60 wt %) the micelles packed into hexagonal structures with high values of the storage modulus (G' approximately 10 kPa at 25 degrees C and 1 Hz).

Gelation of PEO-PLGA-PEO triblock copolymers induced by macroscopic phase separation

The gelation behavior of aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene oxide-b-(DL-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid)-b-ethylene oxide) (PEO-PLGA-PEO) triblock copolymer containing short hydrophilic PEO end blocks is investigated using dynamic light scattering, rheology, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). For polymer concentrations between 5 and 35 wt %, four distinct regions of the turbidity change depending on temperature were observed. Interestingly, in the turbid solution region, gel phase is formed for polymer concentrations above 14 wt % and an extremely slow relaxation was detected. In fact, a power law, which takes into account the dynamics of percolation clusters, dominates the correlation function. In rheological measurements, the local maximum in G' is observed at around the temperature of maximum turbidity. We further found that G" > G' and G' is highly dependent on frequency at the gel state implying viscoelastic characteristics, which is quite different from general concepts of gels, typically formed by the micellar packing. SANS profiles showing multiple peaks in the sol state rather than in the gel state as well as a DSC exotherm at the temperature of gels can also serve as the evidence of different gel states. Based upon the experimental data obtained in the present study, a new gelation mechanism induced by the macroscopic phase separation of triblock copolymers containing short hydrophilic PEO end blocks such as PEO-PLGA-PEO is proposed. The effect of the type ofhydrophobic middle blocks on the gelation is also discussed.