@phdthesis{Schmidt2020, author = {Schmidt, Bernhard V. K. J.}, title = {Polymers, self-assembly and materials}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-48481}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-484819}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {VI, 350}, year = {2020}, abstract = {In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden die Selbstorganisation von hydrophilen Polymeren, verst{\"a}rkte Hydrogele, sowie anorganische/Polymer Hybridmaterialien untersucht. Dabei beschreibt die Arbeit den Weg von Polymersynthese mittels verschiedener Methoden {\"u}ber Polymerselbstanordnung bis zur Herstellung von Polymermaterialien mit vielversprechenden Eigenschaften f{\"u}r zuk{\"u}nftige Anwendungen. Hydrophile Polymere wurden verwendet, um Mehrphasensysteme herzustellen, Wasser-in-Wasser Emulsionen zu bilden und selbstangeordneten Strukturen zu erzeugen, z. B. Partikel/Aggregate oder hohle Strukturen aus komplett wasserl{\"o}slichen Bausteinen. Die Strukturbildung in w{\"a}ssriger Umgebung wurde ferner f{\"u}r supramolekulare Hydrogele mit definierter Unterstruktur und reversiblem Gelierungsverhalten eingesetzt. Auf dem Gebiet der Hydrogele wurde das anorganische Material graphitisches Kohlenstoffnitrid (g-CN) als Photoinitiator f{\"u}r die Hydrogelsynthese und als Verst{\"a}rker der Gelstruktur beschrieben. Hierbei konnten Hydrogele mit herausragenden Eigenschaften generiert werden, z. B. hohe Kompressibilit{\"a}t, hohe Speichermodule oder Gleitf{\"a}higkeit. Die Kombinationen von g-CN mit verschiedenen Polymeren erlaubte es zudem neue Materialien f{\"u}r die Photokatalyse bereitzustellen. Als weiteres anorganisches Material wurden Metall-organische Ger{\"u}ste (MOFs) mit Polymeren kombiniert. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Verwendung von MOFs in der Polymersynthese einen starken Einfluss auf die erzeugte Polymerstruktur hat und MOFs als Katalysator f{\"u}r Polymerisationen verwendet werden k{\"o}nnen. Zuletzt wurde die MOF Synthese an sich untersucht, wobei Polymeradditive oder L{\"o}sungsmittel eingesetzt wurden um die kristalline Struktur der MOFs zu modulieren. Insgesamt wurden hier verschiedene Errungenschaften f{\"u}r die Polymerchemie beschrieben, z.B. neuartige hydrophile Polymere und Hydrogele, die zur Zeit wichtige Materialien im Polymerbereich durch ihre vielversprechenden Anwendungen im biomedizinischen Sektor darstellen. Außerdem ergab die Kombination von Polymeren mit Materialien aus anderen Bereichen der Chemie, z. B. g-CN und MOFs, neue Materialien mit bemerkenswerten Eigenschaften, die ebenfalls von Interesse f{\"u}r zuk{\"u}nftige Anwendungen sind, z. B. Beschichtungen, Partikeltechnologie und Katalyse.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Stahlhut2016, author = {Stahlhut, Frank}, title = {Entwicklung neuer triphiler, fluorkohlenstofffreier Blockcopolymere und Untersuchung ihrer Eigenschaften f{\"u}r Multikompartiment-Mizellen}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-96299}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {iv, 191}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Neue Systeme f{\"u}r triphile, fluorkohlenstofffreie Blockcopolymere in Form von Acrylat-basierten thermoresponsiven Blockcopolymeren sowie Acrylat- bzw. Styrol-basierten Terblock-Polyelektrolyten mit unterschiedlich chaotropen Kationen des jeweiligen polyanionischen Blocks wurden entwickelt. Multikompartiment-Mizellen, mizellare Aggregate mit ultrastrukturiertem hydrophobem Mizellkern die biologischen Strukturen wie dem Humanalbumin nachempfunden sind, sollten bei der Selbstorganisation in w{\"a}ssriger Umgebung entstehen. Durch Verwendung apolarer und polarer Kohlenwasserstoff-Dom{\"a}nen anstelle von fluorophilen Fluorkohlenstoff-Dom{\"a}nen sollte erstmals anhand solcher triphilen Systeme nachgewiesen werden, ob diese in der Lage zur selektiven Aufnahme hydrophober Substanzen in unterschiedliche Dom{\"a}nen des Mizellkerns sind. Mit Hilfe von sequentieller RAFT-Polymerisation wurden diese neuen triphilen Systeme hergestellt, die {\"u}ber einen permanent hydrophilen, eine permanent stark hydrophoben und einen dritten Block verf{\"u}gen, der durch externe Einfl{\"u}sse, speziell die Induzierung eines thermischen Coil-to-globule-{\"U}bergangs bzw. die Zugabe von organischen, hydrophoben Gegenionen von einem wasserl{\"o}slichen in einen polar-hydrophoben Block umgewandelt werden kann. Als RAFT-Agens wurde 4-(Trimethylsilyl)benzyl(3-(trimethylsilyl)-propyl)-trithiocarbonat mit zwei unterschiedlichen TMS-Endgruppen verwendet, das kontrollierte Reaktions-bedingungen sowie die molekulare Charakterisierung der komplexen Copolymere erm{\"o}glichte. Die beiden Grundtypen der linearen tern{\"a}ren Blockcopolymere wurden jeweils in zwei 2 Modell-Systeme, die geringf{\"u}gig in ihren chemischen Eigenschaften sowie in dem Blockl{\"a}ngenverh{\"a}ltnis von hydrophilen und hydrophoben Polymersegmenten variierten, realisiert und unterschiedliche Permutation der Bl{\"o}cke aufwiesen. Als ersten Polymertyp wurden amphiphile thermoresponsive Blockcopolymere verwendet. Modell-System 1 bestand aus dem permanent hydrophoben Block Poly(1,3-Bis(butylthio)-prop-2-yl-acrylat), permanent hydrophilen Block Poly(Oligo(ethylenglykol)monomethyletheracrylat) und den thermoresponsiven Block Poly(N,N'-Diethylacrylamid), dessen Homopolymer eine LCST-Phasen{\"u}bergang (LCST, engl.: lower critical solution temperature) bei ca. 36°C aufweist. Das Modell-System 2 bestand aus dem permanent hydrophilen Block Poly(2-(Methylsulfinyl)ethylacrylat), dem permanent hydrophoben Block Poly(2-Ethylhexylacrylat) und wiederum Poly(N,N'-Diethylacrylamid). Im tern{\"a}ren Blockcopolymer erh{\"o}hte sich, je nach Blocksequenz und relativen Blockl{\"a}ngen, der LCST-{\"U}bergang auf 50 - 65°C. Bei der Untersuchung der Selbstorganisation f{\"u}r die Polymer-Systeme dieses Typs wurde die Temperatur variiert, um verschieden mizellare {\"U}berstrukturen in w{\"a}ssriger Umgebung zu erzeugen bzw. oberhalb des LCST-{\"U}bergangs Multikompartiment-Mizellen nachzuweisen. Die Unterschiede in der Hydrophilie bzw. den sterischen Anspr{\"u}che der gew{\"a}hlten hydrophilen Bl{\"o}cke sowie die Variation der jeweiligen Blocksequenzen erm{\"o}glichte dar{\"u}ber hinaus die Bildung verschiedenster Morphologien mizellarer Aggregate. Der zweite Typ basierte auf ein Terblock-Polyelektrolyt-System mit Polyacrylaten bzw. Polystyrolen als Polymerr{\"u}ckgrat. Polymere ionische Fl{\"u}ssigkeiten wurden als Vorlage der Entwicklung zweier Modell-Systeme genommen. Eines der beiden Systeme bestand aus dem permanent hydrophilen Block Poly(Oligo(ethylenglykol)monomethyletheracrylat, dem permanent hydrophoben Block Poly(2-Ethylhexylacrylat) sowie dem Polyanion-Block Poly(3-Sulfopropylacrylat). Die Hydrophobie des Polyanion-Blocks variierte durch Verwendung großer organischer Gegenionen, n{\"a}mlich Tetrabutylammonium, Tetraphenylphosphonium und Tetraphenylstibonium. Analog wurde in einem weiteren System aus dem permanent hydrophilen Block Poly(4-Vinylbenzyltetrakis(ethylenoxy)methylether), dem permanent hydrophoben Block Poly(para-Methylstyrol) und Poly(4-Styrolsulfonat) mit den entsprechenden Gegenionen gebildet. Aufgrund unterschiedlicher Kettensteifigkeit in beiden Modell-Systemen sollte es bei der Selbstorganisation der mizellarer Aggregate zu unterschiedlichen {\"U}berstrukturen kommen. Mittels DSC-Messungen konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass f{\"u}r alle Modell-Systeme die Bl{\"o}cke in Volumen-Phase miteinander inkompatibel waren, was eine Voraussetzung f{\"u}r Multikompartimentierung von mizellaren Aggregaten ist. Die Gr{\"o}ße mizellarer Aggregate sowie der Einfluss externer Einfl{\"u}sse wie der Ver{\"a}nderung der Temperatur bzw. der Hydrophobie und Gr{\"o}ße von Gegenionen auf den hydrodynamischen Durchmesser mittels DLS-Untersuchungen wurden f{\"u}r alle Modell-Systeme untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zu den thermoresponsiven tern{\"a}ren Blockcopolymeren belegten , dass sich oberhalb der Phasen{\"u}bergangstemperatur des thermoresponsiven Blocks die Struktur der mizellaren Aggregate {\"a}nderte, indem der p(DEAm)-Block scheinbar kollabierte und so zusammen mit den permanent hydrophoben Block den jeweiligen Mizellkern bildete. Nach gewisser Equilibrierungszeit konnten bei Raumtemperatur dir urspr{\"u}nglichen mizellaren Strukturen regeneriert werden. Hingegen konnte f{\"u}r die Terblock-Polyelektrolyt-Systeme bei Verwendung der unterschiedlich hydrophoben Gegenionen kein signifikanter Unterschied in der Gr{\"o}ße der mizellaren Aggregate beobachtet werden. Zur Abbildung der mizellaren Aggregate mittels kryogene Transmissionselektronenmikroskopie (cryo-TEM) der mizellaren Aggregate war mit Poly(1,3-Bis(butylthio)-prop-2-yl-acrylat) ein Modell-System so konzipiert, dass ein erh{\"o}hter Elektronendichtekontrast durch Schwefel-Atome die Visualisierung ultrastrukturierter hydrophober Mizellkerne erm{\"o}glichte. Dieser Effekt sollte in den Terblock-Polyelektrolyt-Systemen auch durch die Gegenionen Tetraphenylphosphonium und Tetraphenylstibonium nachgestellt werden. W{\"a}hrend bei den thermoresponsiven Systemen auch oberhalb des Phasen{\"u}bergangs kein Hinweis auf Ultrastrukturierung beobachtet wurde, waren f{\"u}r die Polyelektrolyt-Systeme, insbesondere im Fall von Tetraphenylstibonium als Gegenion {\"U}berstrukturen zu erkennen. Der Nachweis der Bildung von Multikompartiment-Mizellen war f{\"u}r beide Polymertypen mit dieser abbildenden Methode nicht m{\"o}glich. Die Unterschiede in der Elektronendichte einzelner Bl{\"o}cke m{\"u}sste m{\"o}glicherweise weiter erh{\"o}ht werden um Aussagen diesbez{\"u}glich zu treffen. Die Untersuchung von ortsspezifischen Solubilisierungsexperimenten mit solvatochromen Fluoreszenzfarbstoffen mittels „steady-state"-Fluoreszenzspektroskopie durch Vergleich der Solubilisierungsorte der Terblockcopolymere bzw. -Polyelektrolyte mit den jeweiligen Solubilisierungsorten von Homopolymer- und Diblock-Vorstufen sollten den qualitativen Nachweis der Multikompartimentierung erbringen. Aufgrund der geringen Mengen an Farbstoff, die f{\"u}r die Solubilisierungsexperimente eingesetzt wurden zeigten DLS-Untersuchungen keine st{\"o}renden Effekte der Sonden auf die Gr{\"o}ße der mizellaren Aggregate. Jedoch erschwerten Quench-Effekte im Falle der Polyelektrolyt Modell-Systeme eine klare Interpretation der Daten. Im Falle der Modell-Systeme der thermoresponsiven Blockcopolymere waren dagegen deutliche solvatochrome Effekte zwischen der Solubilisierung in den mizellaren Aggregaten unterhalb und oberhalb des Phasen{\"u}bergangs zu erkennen. Dies k{\"o}nnte ein Hinweis auf Multikompartimentierung oberhalb des LCST-{\"U}bergangs sein. Ohne die Informationen einer Strukturanalyse wie z.B. der R{\"o}ntgen- oder Neutronenkleinwinkelstreuung (SAXS oder SANS), kann nicht abschließend gekl{\"a}rt werden, ob die Solubilisierung in mizellaren hydrophoben Dom{\"a}nen des kollabierten Poly(N,N'-Diethylacrylamid) erfolgt oder in einer Mischform von mizellaren Aggregaten mit gemittelter Polarit{\"a}t.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Miasnikova2012, author = {Miasnikova, Anna}, title = {New hydrogel forming thermo-responsive block copolymers of increasing structural complexity}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-59953}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2012}, abstract = {This work describes the synthesis and characterization of stimuli-responsive polymers made by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and the investigation of their self-assembly into "smart" hydrogels. In particular the hydrogels were designed to swell at low temperature and could be reversibly switched to a collapsed hydrophobic state by rising the temperature. Starting from two constituents, a short permanently hydrophobic polystyrene (PS) block and a thermo-responsive poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate) (PMDEGA) block, various gelation behaviors and switching temperatures were achieved. New RAFT agents bearing tert-butyl benzoate or benzoic acid groups, were developed for the synthesis of diblock, symmetrical triblock and 3-arm star block copolymers. Thus, specific end groups were attached to the polymers that facilitate efficient macromolecular characterization, e.g by routine 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Further, the carboxyl end-groups allowed functionalizing the various polymers by a fluorophore. Because reports on PMDEGA have been extremely rare, at first, the thermo-responsive behavior of the polymer was investigated and the influence of factors such as molar mass, nature of the end-groups, and architecture, was studied. The use of special RAFT agents enabled the design of polymer with specific hydrophobic and hydrophilic end-groups. Cloud points (CP) of the polymers proved to be sensitive to all molecular variables studied, namely molar mass, nature and number of the end-groups, up to relatively high molar masses. Thus, by changing molecular parameters, CPs of the PMDEGA could be easily adjusted within the physiological interesting range of 20 to 40°C. A second responsivity, namely to light, was added to the PMDEGA system via random copolymerization of MDEGA with a specifically designed photo-switchable azobenzene acrylate. The composition of the copolymers was varied in order to determine the optimal conditions for an isothermal cloud point variation triggered by light. Though reversible light-induced solubility changes were achieved, the differences between the cloud points before and after the irradiation were small. Remarkably, the response to light differed from common observations for azobenzene-based systems, as CPs decreased after UV-irradiation, i.e with increasing content of cis-azobenzene units. The viscosifying and gelling abilities of the various block copolymers made from PS and PMDEGA blocks were studied by rheology. Important differences were observed between diblock copolymers, containing one hydrophobic PS block only, the telechelic symmetrical triblock copolymers made of two associating PS termini, and the star block copolymers having three associating end blocks. Regardless of their hydrophilic block length, diblock copolymers PS11 PMDEGAn were freely flowing even at concentrations as high as 40 wt. \%. In contrast, all studied symmetrical triblock copolymers PS8-PMDEGAn-PS8 formed gels at low temperatures and at concentrations as low as 3.5 wt. \% at best. When heated, these gels underwent a gel-sol transition at intermediate temperatures, well below the cloud point where phase separation occurs. The gel-sol transition shifted to markedly higher transition temperatures with increasing length of the hydrophilic inner block. This effect increased also with the number of arms, and with the length of the hydrophobic end blocks. The mechanical properties of the gels were significantly altered at the cloud point and liquid-like dispersions were formed. These could be reversibly transformed into hydrogels by cooling. This thesis demonstrates that high molar mass PMDEGA is an easily accessible, presumably also biocompatible and at ambient temperature well water-soluble, non-ionic thermo-responsive polymer. PMDEGA can be easily molecularly engineered via the RAFT method, implementing defined end-groups, and producing different, also complex, architectures, such as amphiphilic triblock and star block copolymers, having an analogous structure to associative telechelics. With appropriate design, such amphiphilic copolymers give way to efficient, "smart" viscosifiers and gelators displaying tunable gelling and mechanical properties.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{ValverdeSerrano2011, author = {Valverde Serrano, Clara}, title = {Self-assembly behavior in hydrophilic block copolymers}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-54163}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Block copolymers are receiving increasing attention in the literature. Reports on amphiphilic block copolymers have now established the basis of their self-assembly behavior: aggregate sizes, morphologies and stability can be explained from the absolute and relative block lengths, the nature of the blocks, the architecture and also solvent selectiveness. In water, self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers is assumed to be driven by the hydrophobic. The motivation of this thesis is to study the influence on the self-assembly in water of A b B type block copolymers (with A hydrophilic) of the variation of the hydrophilicity of B from non-soluble (hydrophobic) to totally soluble (hydrophilic). Glucose-modified polybutadiene-block-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) copolymers were prepared and their self-assembly behavior in water studied. The copolymers formed vesicles with an asymmetric membrane with a glycosylated exterior and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) on the inside. Above the low critical solution temperature (LCST) of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), the structure collapsed into micelles with a hydrophobic PNIPAM core and glycosylated exterior. This collapse was found to be reversible. As a result, the structures showed a temperature-dependent interaction with L-lectin proteins and were shown to be able to encapsulate organic molecules. Several families of double hydrophilic block copolymers (DHBC) were prepared. The blocks of these copolymers were biopolymers or polymer chimeras used in aqueous two-phase partition systems. Copolymers based on dextran and poly(ethylene glycol) blocks were able to form aggregates in water. Dex6500-b-PEG5500 copolymer spontaneously formed vesicles with PEG as the "less hydrophilic" barrier and dextran as the solubilizing block. The aggregates were found to be insensitive to the polymer's architecture and concentration (in the dilute range) and only mildly sensitive to temperature. Variation of the block length, yielded different morphologies. A longer PEG chain seemed to promote more curved aggregates following the inverse trend usually observed in amphiphilic block copolymers. A shorter dextran promoted vesicular structures as usually observed for the amphiphilic counterparts. The linking function was shown to have an influence of the morphology but not on the self-assembly capability in itself. The vesicles formed by dex6500-b-PEG5500 showed slow kinetics of clustering in the presence of Con A lectin. In addition both dex6500-b-PEG5500 and its crosslinked derivative were able to encapsulate fluorescent dyes. Two additional dextran-based copolymers were synthesized, dextran-b-poly(vinyl alcohol) and dextran-b-poly(vinyl pyrrolidone). The study of their self-assembly allowed to conclude that aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) is a valid source of inspiration to conceive DHBCs capable of self-assembling. In the second part the principle was extended to polypeptide systems with the synthesis of a poly(N-hydroxyethylglutamine)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) copolymer. The copolymer that had been previously reported to have emulsifying properties was able to form vesicles by direct dissolution of the solid in water. Last, a series of thermoresponsive copolymers were prepared, dextran-b-PNIPAMm. These polymers formed aggregates below the LCST. Their structure could not be unambiguously elucidated but seemed to correspond to vesicles. Above the LCST, the collapse of the PNIPAM chains induced the formation of stable objects of several hundreds of nanometers in radius that evolved with increasing temperature. The cooling of these solution below LCST restored the initial aggregates. This self-assembly of DHBC outside any stimuli of pH, ionic strength, or temperature has only rarely been described in the literature. This work constituted the first formal attempt to frame the phenomenon. Two reasons were accounted for the self-assembly of such systems: incompatibility of the polymer pairs forming the two blocks (enthalpic) and a considerable solubility difference (enthalpic and entropic). The entropic contribution to the positive Gibbs free energy of mixing is believed to arise from the same loss of conformational entropy that is responsible for "the hydrophobic effect" but driven by a competition for water of the two blocks. In that sense this phenomenon should be described as the "hydrophilic effect".}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Garnier2005, author = {Garnier, S{\´e}bastien}, title = {Novel amphiphilic diblock copolymers by RAFT-polymerization, their self-organization and surfactant properties}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-6395}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2005}, abstract = {The Reversible Addition Fragmentation Chain Transfer (RAFT) process using the new RAFT agent benzyldithiophenyl acetate is shown to be a powerful polymerization tool to synthesize novel well-defined amphiphilic diblock copolymers composed of the constant hydrophobic block poly(butyl acrylate) and of 6 different hydrophilic blocks with various polarities, namely a series of non-ionic, non-ionic comb-like, anionic and cationic hydrophilic blocks. The controlled character of the polymerizations was supported by the linear increase of the molar masses with conversion, monomodal molar mass distributions with low polydispersities and high degrees of end-group functionalization. The new macro-surfactants form micelles in water, whose size and geometry strongly depend on their composition, according to dynamic and static light scattering measurements. The micellization is shown to be thermodynamically favored, due to the high incompatibility of the blocks as indicated by thermal analysis of the block copolymers in bulk. The thermodynamic state in solution is found to be in the strong or super strong segregation limit. Nevertheless, due to the low glass transition temperature of the core-forming block, unimer exchange occurs between the micelles. Despite the dynamic character of the polymeric micellar systems, the aggregation behavior is strongly dependent on the history of the sample, i.e., on the preparation conditions. The aqueous micelles exhibit high stability upon temperature cycles, except for an irreversibly precipitating block copolymer containing a hydrophilic block exhibiting a lower critical solution temperature (LCST). Their exceptional stability upon dilution indicates very low critical micelle concentrations (CMC) (below 4∙10-4 g∙L-1). All non-ionic copolymers with sufficiently long solvophobic blocks aggregated into direct micelles in DMSO, too. Additionally, a new low-toxic highly hydrophilic sulfoxide block enables the formation of inverse micelles in organic solvents. The high potential of the new polymeric surfactants for many applications is demonstrated, in comparison to reference surfactants. The diblock copolymers are weakly surface-active, as indicated by the graduate decrease of the surface tension of their aqueous solutions with increasing concentration. No CMC could be detected. Their surface properties at the air/water interface confer anti-foaming properties. The macro-surfactants synthesized are surface-active at the interface between two liquid phases, too, since they are able to stabilize emulsions. The polymeric micelles are shown to exhibit a high ability to solubilize hydrophobic substances in water.}, subject = {Blockcopolymere}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Justynska2005, author = {Justynska, Justyna}, title = {Towards a library of functional block copolymers : synthesis and colloidal properties}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-5907}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2005}, abstract = {Understanding the principles of self-organisation exhibited by block copolymers requires the combination of synthetic and physicochemical knowledge. The ability to synthesise block copolymers with desired architecture facilitates the ability to manipulate their aggregation behaviour, thus providing the key to nanotechnology. Apart from relative block volumes, the size and morphology of the produced nanostructures is controlled by the effective incompatibility between the different blocks. Since polymerisation techniques allowing for the synthesis of well-defined block copolymers are restricted to a limited number of monomers, the ability to tune the incompatibility is very limited. Nevertheless, Polymer Analogue Reactions can offer another possibility for the production of functional block copolymers by chemical modifications of well-defined polymer precursors. Therefore, by applying appropriate modification methods both volume fractions and incompatibility, can be adjusted. Moreover, copolymers with introduced functional units allow utilization of the concept of molecular recognition in the world of synthetic polymers. The present work describes a modular synthetic approach towards functional block copolymers. Radical addition of functional mercaptanes was employed for the introduction of diverse functional groups to polybutadiene-containing block copolymers. Various modifications of 1,2-polybutadiene-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer precursors are described in detail. Furthermore, extension of the concept to 1,2-polybutadiene-polystyrene block copolymers is demonstrated. Further investigations involved the self-organisation of the modified block copolymers. Formed aggregates in aqueous solutions of block copolymers with introduced carboxylic acid, amine and hydroxyl groups as well as fluorinated chains were characterised. Study of the aggregation behaviour allowed general conclusions to be drawn regarding the influence of the introduced groups on the self-organisation of the modified copolymers. Finally, possibilities for the formation of complexes, based on electrostatic or hydrogen-bonding interactions in mixtures of block copolymers bearing mutually interacting functional groups, were investigated.}, subject = {Blockcopolymere}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kubowicz2005, author = {Kubowicz, Stephan}, title = {Design and characterization of multicompartment micelles in aqueous solution}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-5752}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2005}, abstract = {Self-assembly of polymeric building blocks is a powerful tool for the design of novel materials and structures that combine different properties and may respond to external stimuli. In the past decades, most studies were focused on the self-assembly of amphiphilic diblock copolymers in solution. The dissolution of these block copolymers in a solvent selective for one block results mostly in the formation of micelles. The micellar structure of diblock copolymers is inherently limited to a homogeneous core surrounded by a corona, which keeps the micelle in solution. Thus, for drug-delivery applications, such structures only offer a single domain (the hydrophobic inner core) for drug entrapment. Whereas multicompartment micelles composed of a water-soluble shell and a segregated hydrophobic core are novel, interesting morphologies for applications in a variety of fields including medicine, pharmacy and biotechnology. The separated incompatible compartments of the hydrophobic core could enable the selective entrapment and release of various hydrophobic drugs while the hydrophilic shell would permit the stabilization of these nanostructures in physiological media. However, so far, the preparation and control of stable multicompartment micellar systems are in the first stages and the number of morphological studies concerning such micelles is rather low. Thus considerably little is known about their exact inner structures. In the present study, we concentrate on four different approaches for the preparation of multicompartment micelles by self-assembly in aqueous media. A similarity of all approaches was that hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon blocks were selected for all employed copolymers since such segments tend to be strongly incompatible, and thus favor the segregation into distinct domains. Our studies have shown that the self-assembly of the utilized copolymers in aqueous solution leads in three cases to the formation of multicompartment micelles. As expected the shape and size of the micelles depend on the molecular architecture and to some extent also on the way of preparation. These novel structured colloids may serve as models as well as mimics for biological structures such as globular proteins, and may open interesting opportunities for nanotechnology applications.}, subject = {Amphiphile Verbindungen}, language = {en} }