Amphiphilic block copolymers can self-assemble into various complex architectures for tailored applications like oil encapsulation and drug delivery. Primarily, the study of amphiphilic block copolymers focuses on linear copolymers. However, traditional linear block copolymers are subject to a critical concentration for self-assembly to occur and therefore require a certain concentration of polymer in order to form micelles. The research herein aims to successfully synthesize well-defined amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(caprolactone)-b-poly(oligo ethylene glycol methacrylate) grafted from the surface of SiO2 nanoparticles. This body of work will discuss the synthesis of these copolymers in a controlled fashion utilizing surface-initiated ring opening and atom transfer radical polymerizations. By varying the conditions of polymerization for each block, the length of either block can be tailored to vary internal “void volume” within the inner hydroscopic corona. This void area can in theory be tuned based on synthetic parameters to increase the amount of oil that can be encapsulated for oil spill remediation applications. For a detailed understanding of the polymer structure and composition, unattached “free” polymer analogs can be analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The macroscopic properties of the grafted nanoparticle can be analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), infrared spectroscopy (IR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These grafted copolymers will provide insight into how block copolymer grafts can be tuned to optimize guest molecule encapsulation.

Synthesis of tailored amphiphilic graft polymers with a tunable void volume for encapsulation

255th National Meeting (2018)

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