Polymer nanoparticles held together by non-covalent bonds in solution have incredible potential applications in the field of nanotechnology. Due to the dynamic properties of the reversible bonds, the polymer conformation can be controlled by applying an external stimulus to dissociate and re-associate the non-covalent bonds. Such a change can be useful for manipulating the macroscopic properties of the solution such as viscosity, suggesting interesting potential for the non-covalently collapsed polymer nanoparticle solutions as stimuli-responsive materials. Here we have synthesized a terpolymer composed of a self-complementary hydrogen bonding unit and a solubilizing unit within poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) backbone by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) copolymerization. By dissolving the polymer in a good polar solvent and switching it to a selective non-polar solvent, we devised a kinetic pathway to target the metastable nanoparticle state by inducing intramolecular collapse. We discovered that the nanoparticles were sensitive to heat and its thermal history. The polymer nanoparticles held together by hydrogen bonding started to loosen above a certain temperature, inducing a drastic change in the solution viscosity due to the conformational change and the subsequent alteration of the hydrogen bonding mode. 

Modulating solution viscosity by controlling the polymer morphology in solution from intra- to intermolecular hydrogen bonding

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

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