Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) is a highly versatile, scalable platform technology for the efficient synthesis of a wide range of bespoke diblock copolymer nano-objects in various media. The basic principles of PISA are generic: a soluble precursor 'A' block is chain-extended using a second monomer that forms an insoluble 'B' block in the chosen solvent. As this second 'B' block grows in the reaction mixture, micellar nucleation occurs at some critical chain length, leading to sterically-stabilized nanoparticles. This talk will focus on RAFT aqueous dispersion polymerisation and RAFT aqueous emulsion polymerisation. In the former case, the design rules are now well understood: spheres, worms or vesicles can be obtained for many formulations, with the copolymer morphology being dictated.by the relative volume fractions of the two blocks. In the latter case, only kinetically-trapped spheres are widely reported in the literature. Strategies for breaking this restrictive paradigm will be discussed and exemplified.

Polymerization-induced self-assembly in aqueous media: Tutorial

255th National Meeting (2018)

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