Stimuli-responsive amphiphilic PDMAEMA-b-PLMA copolymers and their cationic and zwitterionic analogs
Varvara Chrysostomou, Stergios Pispas
Index: 10.1002/pola.28931
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Abstract
ABSTRACT In this work, the synthesis and characterization of novel amphiphilic diblock copolymers of poly(2-dimethylamino ethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(lauryl methacrylate), PDMAEMA-b-PLMA, using the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization technique, are reported. The diblocks were successfully derivatized to cationic and zwitterionic block polyelectrolytes by quaternization and sulfobetainization of the PDMAEMA block, respectively. Furthermore, their molecular and physicochemical characterization was performed by using characterization techniques such as NMR and FTIR, size exclusion chromatography, light scattering techniques, and transmission electron microscopy. The structure of the diblock micelles, their behavior, and properties in aqueous solution were investigated under the effect of pH, temperature, and ionic strength, as PDMAEMA and its derivatives are stimuli-responsive polymers and exhibit responses to variations of at least one of these physicochemical parameters. These new families of stimuli-responsive block copolymers respond to changes of their environment giving interesting nanostructures, behavioral motifs, and properties, rendering them useful as nanocarriers for drug delivery and gene therapy. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017. Novel amphiphilic block copolymers of PDMAEMA-b-PLMA were synthesized using RAFT polymerization technique and were derivatized by quaternization and sulfobetainization of the PDMAEMA block into polyelectrolyte copolymers. The self-assembly behavior and properties of the copolymers in aqueous media are investigated under the effects of pH, temperature, and ionic strength.