Hierarchical self-assembly of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane end-capped stimuli-responsive polymer: from single micelle to complex micelle

Li Ma; Haiping Geng; Jiangxuan Song; Jinze Li; Guangxin Chen; Qifang Li

doi:10.1021/jp203782g

Hierarchical self-assembly of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane end-capped stimuli-responsive polymer: from single micelle to complex micelle

J Phys Chem B. 2011 Sep 15;115(36):10586-91. doi: 10.1021/jp203782g. Epub 2011 Aug 22.

Authors

Li Ma¹, Haiping Geng, Jiangxuan Song, Jinze Li, Guangxin Chen, Qifang Li

Affiliation

¹ State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.

PMID: 21830755
DOI: 10.1021/jp203782g

Abstract

Responsive polymeric micelles have been widely studied because of their potential use in nanocontainers and nanocarriers. In this study, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) end-capped poly[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] (POSS-PDMAEMA), a stimuli-responsive organic-inorganic hybrid polymer, was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using POSS-Br as a macroinitiator. The self-assembly behaviors of POSS-PDMAEMA in aqueous solution were studied by fluorescence probe, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results revealed two self-assembly processes of POSS-PDMAEMA. First they self-assembled into a single micelle with the POSS molecules forming a crystal core and the PDMAEMA chains stretching as a corona. Then the single micelles, as building blocks, were able to reversibly form a hierarchical micelle-on-micelle structure (complex micelle) under external stimuli.