A Stimuli-Responsive ABC Triblock Copolymer Based on P(SEMA-b-NIPAM-b-VEA): RAFT synthesis and “Schizophrenic” Micellization

This article describes the synthesis of ABC, Stimuli-Responsive triblock copolymers were prapared via reversible addition-fragment chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. In this work, we report a systematic study of how morphological changes of poly[(succinic ethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-b-poly(N-4-vinylbenzyl),N,N-diethylamine); P(SEMA-b-NIPAM-b-VEA)] occurred with combined stimulus of temperature and pH . The “schizophrenic” behavior of PSEMA-b-PNIPAM-b-PVEA was observed by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies, dynamic light scattering (DLS). The synthesis is accomplished by first polymerizing 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate and N-isopropylacrylamide as a hydrophilic block in pH=4 and polyvinylethylamine as hydrophobic block in pH=10. The zeta potential measurements at various pHs demonstrated that the synthesized P(SEMA-b-NIPAM-b-VEA) triblock copolymer has zwitterionic properties. It is expected that the synthesized P(SEMA-b-NIPAM-b-VEA) triblock copolymer considered as a prospective candidate in nanomedicine applications such as drug delivery.

Poly(succinic ethyl methacrylate),Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide), Poly(N-4-vinylbenzyl),N,N-diethylamine), RAFT, Diblock copolymer, Self-assembly, “Schizophrenic”