• DOI:10.1021/ma702249w
• Corpus ID: 59154977

Phase Behavior of Polyelectrolyte Block Copolymers in Mixed Solvents

@article{Cristobal2008PhaseBO,
  title={Phase Behavior of Polyelectrolyte Block Copolymers in Mixed Solvents},
  author={Galder Cristobal and Jean‐François Berret and C{\'e}drick Chevallier and Ruela Talingting-Pabalan and Mathieu Joanicot and Isabelle Grillo},
  journal={Macromolecules},
  year={2008},
  volume={41},
  pages={1872-1880}
}

• G. Cristobal, J. Berret, +3 authors I. Grillo
• Published 25 January 2008
• Materials Science, Chemistry
• Macromolecules

We have studied the phase behavior of the poly(n-butyl acrylate)-b-poly(acrylic acid) block copolymer in a mixture of two miscible solvents:  water and tetrahydrofuran (THF). The techniques used to examine the different polymers, structures, and phases formed in mixed solvents were static and dynamic light scattering, small-angle neutron scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance, and fluorescence microscopy. By lowering the water/THF mixing ratio X, the sequence unimers−micron-sized droplets−polymeric micelles was observed. The transition between unimers and the micron-sized droplets occurred at X ∼ 0.75, whereas the microstructuration into core−shell polymeric micelles was effective below X ∼ 0.4. At intermediate mixing ratios, a coexistence between the micron-sized droplets and the polymeric micelles was observed. Combining the different aforementioned techniques, it was concluded that the droplet dispersion resulted from a solvent partitioning that was induced by the hydrophobic blocks. Comparison of poly...