Polymer Chemistry Blog

In the latest Polymer Chemistry Hot Article, Cathrin Corten and Marek Urban at the University of Southern Mississippi, USA, investigate the evolution of shape in colloidal particles. In the paper they study colloidal nanoparticle made from two phase-separated copolymers poly(methylmethacrylate) (p-MMA)/n-butylacrylate (nBA) and poly(nBA)/pentafluorostyrene (p-PFS).

These studies show for the first time that the synthesis of two distinct phase-separated copolymers within one colloidal nanoparticle allows control of the nanoparticle morphology by compositional and interfacial adjustments.

Interested to know more? Why not read the full article for free here: Cathrin C. Corten and Marek W. Urban, Polym. Chem., 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0PY00220H

The hollow structure of cyclodextrins makes them promising hosts for drugs. By attaching polymers to the cyclodextrin ring scientists can create new materials to use as drug delivery systems. One advantage of attaching the polymer is that it allows the delivery properties to be tailored by modifying the polymer as well as the cyclodextrin host.

The review by Jiawen Zhou and Helmut Ritter, Heinrich-Heine University of Düsseldorf, Germany, focuses on the recent advances made with cyclodextrins in polymer chemistry and their applications in drug delivery systems. They discuss the opportunities for using click reactions to covalently attached polymer chains to cyclodextrins, and other examples for functionalizing cyclodextrin.

Fancy knowing more? Read the article for free here:

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Scientists have made giant surfactants that form globular micelles in water and can spread to worm-like structures on surfaces. The surfactants are formed from amphiphilic block copolymers and synthesised by combining RAFT and ATRP techniques.

In aqueous solution, the polymers aggregate into globular micellar aggregates, their size being determined by the length of the stretched polymer molecules. For the dual brush copolymer, a rather compact structure is formed, which is dominated by the large hydrophobic poly(n-butyl acrylate) block. On mica surfaces the triblock copolymers adsorb with worm-like backbones and stretched out side chains.

Read the full article for free here:
Daniel Zehm, André Laschewsky, Peggy Heunemann, Michael Gradzielski, Sylvain Prévost, Hua Liang, Jürgen P. Rabe and Jean-François Lutz, Polym. Chem., 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0PY00200C

Oren Scherman and co-workers at the University of Cambridge, UK, have used diffusion NMR and solution viscometry to probe cucurbituril-mediated host–guest polymer self assembly. The polymer studied was a 5-component supramolecular ABA triblock copolymer in aqueous solution.

The team showed the utility of DOSY NMR for probing the multi-component assembly of supramolecular block copolymers formed through host–guest chemistry. The NMR approach offers a non-invasive, and in situ method to visualise the multi-component assembly process.

Fancy knowing more? Read the article for free here:

Wen-Ming Wan and Cai-Yuan Pan have developed a strategy for preparing multiple nanostructural materials. The method creates the materials directly from controlled radical dispersion polymerization and polymerization-induced self-assembling and re-organization in one pot. Various morphologies including spherical micelles, nanowires, tubes, vesicles, large compound vesicles etc. can be prepared directly in this way.

Download the paper here to read the full method and experimental details.

A team led by James Batteas and David Bergbreiter at Texas A&M University, USA, have designed “smart” acrylamide copolymers with reversible redox behaviour which changes  lower critical solution temperature. The polymers are contain on N-isopropyl and 4-N-amino-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl-4-yl (TEMPO) groups. Oxidation or reduction varies the copolymer’s lower critical solution temperature from 18 °C to 35–40 °C.

The team say that these smart polymers could lead to the design of redox-sensitive materials for drug delivery applications in vivo or in the synthesis of surfaces with redox-mediated wettability.

To find out more, why not download the article today?

A team of scientists led by Ben Zhong Tang at The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, China, have developed a highly sensitive chemosensor for detecting explosives.

The sensor is based on the quenching of fluorescence. Light emission of a hyperbranched poly(silylenephenylene) is quenched exponentially by picric acid, with quenching constant up to  1.5 × 105 L mol−1. This superamplification effect makes the polymer a highly sensitive chemosensor for explosive detection.

Interested to know more? Read the full article here:
Jianzhao Liu, Yongchun Zhong, Ping Lu, Yuning Hong, Jacky W. Y. Lam, Mahtab Faisal, Yong Yu, Kam Sing Wong and Ben Zhong Tang, Polym. Chem., 2010, 1, 426-429 DOI:10.1039/C0PY00046A

Eiji Yashima and colleagues at Nagoya University, Japan, have synthesised two novel optically active poly(phenylacetylene)s bearing riboflavin (vitamin B2) residues. The pendant groups showed a reversible redox behavior which accompanied a reversible change in the chiroptical properties.

This article was selected as a Hot Article by the Polymer Chemistry Editorial Board. Interested to know more? Why not read the full article:

Hiroki Iida, Tomohisa Mizoguchi, Seong-Dae Oh and Eiji Yashima, Polym. Chem., 2010, 1, 841-848 DOI:10.1039/C0PY00044B