Elongated micelles with a semicrystalline core are different from traditional cylindrical surfactant or block copolymer micelles. They are stiff and often rod-like. Their growth is irreversible and, if properly nucleated, they can form micelles of controlled and uniform length. When subjected to shear, they fragment, and the fragments do not readily combine. The core typically has domains characterized by different degrees of crystallization. Segments of these micelles dissolve at different temperatures, reflecting the degree of crystal perfection in each segment. Thus the concept of a critical micelle temperature (CMT) or concentration (CMC) is no longer appropriate. My talk will describe these features for examples reported in the literature by other groups as well as several examples from our laboratory.

Crystallization-driven self-assembly of elongated block copolymer micelles

245th National Meeting (2013)

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