Synthesis and aqueous self-assembly of ABC miktoarm star block terpolymers

POLY 72

Marc A. Hillmyer, hillmyer@chem.umn.edu, Timothy P. Lodge, and Zhibo Li. Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, 207 Pleasant St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Triblock terpolymers containing a hydrophilic block and two incompatible hydrophobic blocks can self-assemble in aqueous solution to give micelles with nanostructured hydrophobic domains. In linear ABC triblocks compartmentalized micelles with a core-shell-corona structure have been observed. By covalently connecting three mutually-immiscible blocks at a central juncture as in ABC miktoarm star triblocks, the two hydrophobic domains are forced into close proximity to both the hydrophillic block and to each other. This architecture results in the formation of a remarkable array of novel multicomponent micelle structures. The synthesis of ABC mikotarm star block terpolymers containing polyethylethylene, polyperfluoropropylene oxide, and polyethylene oxide and the self-assembly of these molecules in dilute aqueous solution will be presented.