Zwitterionic associating polymers are important for biomedical, water purification, and environmental remediation applications due to their stimuli-responsive properties. Such materials are particularly sensitivity to ionic strength and temperature that affect their water solubility. By tethering polyzwitterions to hydrophobic, water-soluble, or other responsive (co)polymers, structures such as micelles, vesicles, and gel-like networks can be achieved with tailorable assembly and rheological properties. The primary driving force for assembly is considered to be the enthalpy of ionic dipole-dipole attraction between zwitterionic units. These interactions and the thermodynamic parameters that direct self-assembly are highly dependent on the copolymer identity and solvent quality. Advances in reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization enables the synthesis of well-defined polymers to understand the mechanisms of polyzwitterion self-assembly. Therefore, we utilize RAFT to prepare model zwitterionic homopolymers with upper critical solution temperatures (UCSTs) that are dependent on the degree of polymerization of the polymer and the concentration of electrolytes in water. This behavior is governed by an equilibrium between inter- and intra-molecular ion dipole-dipole associations of the zwitterionic moieties, which influences the population of associates versus unimers in solution. We will describe the thermodynamic and structural properties of a series of zwitterionic homopolymers determined via calorimetric, light scattering, and small angle neutron scattering techniques. This work provides further insight into how the ion dipole interactions of zwitterionic (co)polymers promote enthalpy-driven assembly, which can aide in the modeling of structure-property relationships to better design materials for a variety of applications.

Thermodynamics of association and structure of sulfobetaine-based polyzwitterions

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.