Accessing morphologies beyond spherical micelles is of increasing interest for polymeric nanoparticle systems. The relationship between shape and function for materials on the nanoscale has been demonstrated in several biological arenas, including cell uptake, circulation, and clearance. It is therefore an alluring goal to access and understand the variables that affect the supramolecular shape for these materials. In our study, we have prepared amphiphilic polymers via ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) with varying block lengths, ratios and identities. The amphiphile library was subject to dialysis and the resulting particles were analyzed via small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and electron microscopy (EM) techniques.  We have found that predicting shape based on polymer properties alone is not straight forward, and that manipulation of dialysis conditions on the same polymer can yield an abundance of structural variety. It is therefore proposed that kinetic control over morphology is a viable method for accessing various shapes from the same polymer starting material, and that design of ROMP amphiphiles is only a preliminary consideration in determining supramolecular morphology.

How to prepare micellar nanoparticles with diverse morphologies via ROMP

248th National Meeting (2014)

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