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Lee SW, Kim KT. Synthesis and self-assembly of dendritic-linear block copolymers containing poly(mandelic acid) with discrete molecular weights and stereochemical structures. RSC Adv 2024; 14:2285-2292. [PMID: 38213974 PMCID: PMC10779440 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra07536b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/07/2024] [Indexed: 01/13/2024] Open
Abstract
In this work, we present the synthesis of uniform PMAs, where the number of repeat units and their stereochemical arrangement are precisely defined. Utilizing an iterative convergent approach with orthogonally protected dimandelic acid building blocks, we achieved high molecular weight PMAs with the desired number of repeat units, extending up to 144 mandelic acids. Additionally, stereochemically defined poly(l-mandelic acid)s with up to 32 repeat units were successfully synthesized. These uniform PMAs were subsequently coupled with uniform branched poly(ethylene glycol) blocks to create uniform dendritic-linear block copolymers. The self-assembly of these block copolymers in solution was systematically investigated. In solution self-assembly, the synthesized block copolymers showed multiple phases from cylinder to inverse cubic as the molecular weight of PMA increased. In the case of solvent diffusion-evaporation-mediated self-assembly, the block copolymers underwent a phase transition as the rate of water addition decreased.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seul Woo Lee
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University Seoul 08826 Korea
| | - Kyoung Taek Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University Seoul 08826 Korea
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2
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Gröschel AH, Gröschel T, Azhdari S, Schumacher M, Chen H. Prismatic Block Copolymer Hexosomes. ACS NANO 2023; 17:16069-16079. [PMID: 37566704 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c04827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/13/2023]
Abstract
Cubosomes and hexosomes are recent solution morphologies with an ordered porous structure and are observed for lipids and amphiphilic block copolymers (BCPs) with high hydrophobic fractions. Whereas lipid hexosomes typically exhibit a prismatic shape, BCP hexosomes have so far only been observed as closed microspheres where inner channels are not connected to the surrounding medium. Here, we describe the formation of flat, prismatic BCP hexosomes with pronounced faceting and a highly ordered lattice of hexagonally packed channels. We assemble polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP or SV) into the hexosome framework using polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine)-block-poly(tert-butyl methacrylate) (PS-b-P4VP-b-PT or SVT) as a macromolecular surfactant in low-χ solvents. During solvent exchange, SV-rich domains form through liquid-liquid phase separation, followed by solidification and confined assembly within these domains. Since the final solvent (acetone) has a very low χ parameter toward PS and P4VP (equaling low interfacial tension), solidification of the hexosome occurs under confinement conditions that we term "supersoft". The low interfacial tension allows the stabilization of the hexagonal-prismatic shape, which originates from the hexagonal lattice of channels. Increasing the interfacial tension with polar cosolvents at some point dominates the particle shape, resulting in deformation of prismatic BCP hexosomes into spinning-top structures. The use of low-χ solvents for confined assembly of BCPs may allow the formation of unusual particle shapes simply by tuning the polymer-solvent interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- André H Gröschel
- Institute for Physical Chemistry and Center for Soft Nanoscience (SoN), University of Münster, Corrensstraße 28-30, 48149 Münster, Germany
- Polymer Materials for Energy Storage (PES), Bavarian Centre for Battery Technology (BayBatt) and Bavarian Polymer Institute (BPI), University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95448 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Tina Gröschel
- Evonik Industries AG, High-Performance Polymers, Paul-Baumann-Straße 1, 45772 Marl, Germany
| | - Suna Azhdari
- Institute for Physical Chemistry and Center for Soft Nanoscience (SoN), University of Münster, Corrensstraße 28-30, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Marcel Schumacher
- Institute for Physical Chemistry and Center for Soft Nanoscience (SoN), University of Münster, Corrensstraße 28-30, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Hui Chen
- Institute for Physical Chemistry and Center for Soft Nanoscience (SoN), University of Münster, Corrensstraße 28-30, 48149 Münster, Germany
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3
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Zhang Q, Lu M, Wu H, Zhang L, Feng X, Jin Z. Formation and Transformation of Polystyrene- block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) Hexasomes in the Solvent Exchange. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:12441-12449. [PMID: 36196878 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c01568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The generation of inverse micellar nanostructures, especially those with open channels, using commercially available diblock copolymers (BCP), is vital for their wide applications in drug delivery and catalyst templating. However, the rigid requirements for forming inverse morphologies, such as the highly asymmetric molecular structures, the semicrystalline motifs, and concentrated solutions of diblock copolymers, represent obstacles to the development of successful strategies. In this study, the inverse polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (PS30K-b-P2VP8.5K) micelles, i.e., the hexasomes with p6mm lattice, were generated through a modified solvent exchange via adding d-tartaric acid (d-TA) in the nonsolvent. Various intermediate morphologies have been identified with the change of d-TA concentration. Interestingly, in the high d-TA concentration (∼20 mg/mL), the hexasomes with close-packed hoops changed to mesoporous spheres with regularly packed perpendicular cylindrical channels (VD-TA: VBCP 6:100), and further to the mesoporous spheres with gyri-like open pores (VD-TA: VBCP > 15:100) with the increasing acidity in the mixed solvent. This study presents a simple and economical pathway for fabricating PS30K-b-P2VP8.5K hexasomes and first demonstrates these hexasomes can be modified to the morphology with open channels that will benefit their further applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiuya Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Light Conversion Materials and Biophotonics, Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China
| | - Mengfan Lu
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Light Conversion Materials and Biophotonics, Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China
| | - Hanyu Wu
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Center for Advanced Low-Dimension Materials, Donghua University, Shanghai201620, China
| | - Lu Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Light Conversion Materials and Biophotonics, Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China
| | - Xunda Feng
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Center for Advanced Low-Dimension Materials, Donghua University, Shanghai201620, China
| | - Zhaoxia Jin
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Light Conversion Materials and Biophotonics, Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China
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Ha S, Kim KT. Effect of hydrophilic block end groups and block junction on block copolymer self-assembly in solution. RSC Adv 2022; 12:7446-7452. [PMID: 35424699 PMCID: PMC8982213 DOI: 10.1039/d2ra00493c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent research suggests that the end groups of polymers can affect their self-assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sungmin Ha
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyoung Taek Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
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Ma H, Ha S, Jeong J, Wang V, Kim KT. Synthesis of discrete bottlebrush polymers via the iterative convergent growth technique and post-functionalization. Polym Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1039/d2py00573e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The formation of discrete bottlebrush polymers (Step 1: Iterative convergent growth. Step 2: Post-functionalization using thiol–ene click chemistry.)
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyunji Ma
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
| | - Sungmin Ha
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
| | - Jisu Jeong
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
| | - Valene Wang
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
| | - Kyoung Taek Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
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Kwon Y, Kim KT. Crystallization-Driven Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers Having Monodisperse Poly(lactic acid)s with Defined Stereochemical Sequences. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c01825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yongbeom Kwon
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
| | - Kyoung Taek Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
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7
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Chen H, Li MH. Recent Progress in Polymer Cubosomes and Hexosomes. Macromol Rapid Commun 2021; 42:e2100194. [PMID: 34145688 DOI: 10.1002/marc.202100194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Revised: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Polymer cubosomes and hexosomes are polymer colloids with inverted lyotropic liquid crystal phases as internal structures. They are composed of regular networks of water-filled channels surrounded by a bilayer membrane made from amphiphilic block copolymers. Due to the uniform, tunable, and highly ordered porous structure, polymer cubosomes and hexosomes present numerous advantages over polymer micelles and vesicles, such as the high loading volumes for both hydrophilic and hydrophobic substances, large specific surface areas, and good mechanical and chemical stabilities. The polymer chemistry also enables unlimited molecular design to endow these polymer colloids with a lot of adjustable physical and chemical properties. Therefore, polymer cubosomes and hexosomes have attracted increasing attention for their potential applications in materials science and nanotechnology. This review outlines the recent progress in this field with an emphasis on the polymer architectures, the self-assembly conditions and mechanisms, and some application examples which are special for these inverted polymer colloids. It is hoped to provide some practical guidance for researchers interested in polymer cubosomes and hexosomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Chen
- Chimie ParisTech, PSL University, CNRS, Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris, UMR8247, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Min-Hui Li
- Chimie ParisTech, PSL University, CNRS, Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris, UMR8247, Paris, 75005, France
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Xu S, Trujillo FJ, Xu J, Boyer C, Corrigan N. Influence of Molecular Weight Distribution on the Thermoresponsive Transition of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). Macromol Rapid Commun 2021; 42:e2100212. [PMID: 34121259 DOI: 10.1002/marc.202100212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Revised: 05/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
A series of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) homopolymers with narrow molecular weight distributions (MWDs) is prepared via photoinduced electron/energy transfer-reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (PET-RAFT) polymerization. The thermal transition temperature of these polymer samples is analyzed via turbidity measurements in water/N,N'-dimethylformamide mixtures, which show that the cloud point temperatures are inversely proportional to the weight average molecular weight (Mw ). Binary mixtures of the narrowly distributed PNIPAm samples are also prepared and the statistical parameters for the MWDs of these blends are determined. Very interestingly, for binary blends of the PNIPAm samples, the thermoresponsive transition is not only dependent on the Mw , which has been shown previously, but also on higher order statistical parameters of the MWDs. Specifically, at very high values of skewness and kurtosis, the polymer blends deviate from a single sharp thermoresponsive transition toward a broader thermal response, and eventually to a regime of two more distinct transitions. This work highlights the importance of in-depth characterization of polymer MWDs for thermoresponsive polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sihao Xu
- School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.,Cluster for Advanced Macromolecular Design, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.,Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Francisco J Trujillo
- School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Jiangtao Xu
- School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.,Cluster for Advanced Macromolecular Design, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.,Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Cyrille Boyer
- School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.,Cluster for Advanced Macromolecular Design, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.,Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Nathaniel Corrigan
- School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.,Cluster for Advanced Macromolecular Design, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.,Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
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Fan B, Wan J, Zhai J, Chen X, Thang SH. Triggered Degradable Colloidal Particles with Ordered Inverse Bicontinuous Cubic and Hexagonal Mesophases. ACS NANO 2021; 15:4688-4698. [PMID: 33646766 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c09166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
We herein report a facile strategy to prepare triggered degradable block copolymer nano/macro-objects, ranging from typical micelles, worms, jellyfish, and vesicles to rarely achieved spongosomes, cubosomes, and hexosomes via RAFT-mediated polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). The morphological transitions from a simple spherical micelle to a spongosome, ordered Im3¯m cubosome, and p6mm hexosome were captured and demonstrated by TEM, SEM, and synchrotron SAXS. In addition, morphological phase diagrams including important factors, such as solid contents, degree of polymerization (DP), and stabilizer block chain length, were constructed to unveil the formation mechanism and guide the scalable preparation of complex morphologies with packing parameter (P) > 1. This study not only represents an example that achieved inverse mesophases via acrylate-based monomers with high conversion but also reports a triggered degradable system in the most extended morphological range via PISA. The facile synthesis and stimuli-responsiveness of our system should greatly expand the utility of polymer inverse mesophases for triggered releasing, templating, and many other applications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jiali Zhai
- School of Science, College of Science, Engineering and Health, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
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Jeong MG, Kim J, Kwon JH, Kim KT. Morphological transition of nanostructures of self‐assembled block copolymers by stimuli‐induced conformational changes in the hydrophilic block. JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/pol.20200059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Moon Gon Jeong
- Department of ChemistrySeoul National University Seoul South Korea
| | - Jiwon Kim
- Department of ChemistrySeoul National University Seoul South Korea
| | - Jun Ho Kwon
- Department of ChemistrySeoul National University Seoul South Korea
| | - Kyoung Taek Kim
- Department of ChemistrySeoul National University Seoul South Korea
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11
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Abstract
Block copolymers (BCPs) have been indispensable building blocks to create a range of soft nanostructures including discrete particulates (micelles and vesicles) and periodic structures via spontaneous assembly in bulk and in solution. The size, shape, and phase of these structures can be controlled by the rational design of the molecular structure of building blocks based on the structural analogy of BCPs to lipids and small molecule surfactants. Inverse bicontinuous cubic mesophases of polymers, or polymer cubosomes when in colloidal forms, are emerging nanostructures composed of triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMSs) of block copolymer bilayers. Created by spontaneous assembly of BCPs in solution, polymer cubosomes internalize two nonintersecting nanochannel networks arranged in a cubic crystalline order. As well-defined porous particles with highly ordered internal structures and high surface-area-to-volume ratios, polymer cubosomes can be used for chemical reactors or bioreactors, carriers capable of cargo loading and release, and scaffolds for nanotemplating. However, despite their structural similarity to lipid cubosomes and applicability, polymer cubosomes have been only sporadically observed as an outcome of serendipity until recent studies demonstrated that BCPs could form well-defined polymer cubosomes in solution.In this Account, we describe our recent progress in creating polymer cubic mesophases and their colloidal particles (polymer cubosomes) in dilute solution. BCPs with nonlinear architectures (dendritic-linear, branched-linear, and branched-branched BCPs) preferentially self-assembled to inverse mesophases in solution when the block ratio (f), defined as a molecular weight ratio of the hydrophilic block to that of the hydrophobic block, was small (<10%). The resulting lyotropic structures transformed from flat bilayers to cubic phases of primitive cubic and double diamond lattices and finally to inverted hexagonal phases as f decreased. We proposed that the architecture of a BCP plays an important role in the preferential formation of polymer cubosomes in solution. The presence of the bulky hydrophilic block limited chain stretching of the hydrophobic polymer block, which would increase the packing parameter of the BCP to greater than unity, a prerequisite for inverse mesophase formation. The structural characteristics of polymer cubosomes, such as lattice symmetries, pore sizes, and lattice parameters, could also be controlled by fine-tuning the structural parameters of BCPs. We also suggested nonsynthetic methods to precisely control the phase and internal lattice of inverse mesophases of BCPs by the coassembly of two BCPs with different block ratios (mix-and-match approach) and the modulation of the affinity of the common solvent toward the hydrophobic block of the BCP. To investigate the potential applications of polymer cubosomes, we prepared inorganic photonic crystals using a cubosome-templated synthesis. We also discussed the utilization of cubosomes as chemical reactors by functionalization of the surface and the covalent stabilization of transient self-assembled structures via cross-linking of the hydrophobic domain. This Account reflects the efforts of synthetic chemists to understand the self-assembly behavior of BCPs to form complex morphologies in solution. We hope that our Account inspires efforts from chemists and other scientists to further understand these structures with infinite mazes of complexity and possibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sungmin Ha
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
| | - Yunju La
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
| | - Kyoung Taek Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
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