The solution self-assembling behaviors of amphiphilic block copolymers (ABCPs) have been extensively studied in recent decades. ABCPs can self-assemble into vesicles, micelles, flat bilayer structures, polymer cubosomes and corresponding inverse phases. Recently, polymer cubosomes with triply periodic minimal surfaces, which are analogous to cubosomes in the self-assembly of lipids, have been observed experimentally in some ABCP systems. However, the combined effects of solvent, geometric structure of the ABCP, and others are still not clear. Poly{2,5-bis[(4-methoxyphenyl)-oxycarbonyl]styrene} (PMPCS) is a typical mesogen-jacketed liquid crystalline polymer that usually adopts a full extended conformation in bulk and in solutions. We synthesized a rod-coil ABCP poly(ethylene oxide)-b-PMPCS (PEO-b-PMPCS) with a structure similar to the head-tail structures of lipids. With PEO-b-PMPCS as a model system, it is more likely to understand the mechanism and influencing factors in the formation of polymer cubosomes. Through varying the hydrophobic chain length or the solubility parameter of the mixed solvent, thus changing the head-tail asymmetry, two kinds of polymer cubosomes and one kind of polymer hexasomes were obtained through the self-assembly of this ABCP, which is the first time that these structures are observed in a rod-coil system. This research opens up a new way for further study of the bicontinuous and inverse phases in different ABCP systems.

Head-tail asymmetry determines formation of polymer cubosomes or hexasomes in a rod-coil amphiphilic block copolymer

256th National Meeting (2018)

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