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Science 18 April 2003:
Vol. 300. no. 5618, pp. 460 - 464
DOI: 10.1126/science.1082193
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Reports

On the Origins of Morphological Complexity in Block Copolymer Surfactants

Sumeet Jain and Frank S. Bates*

Amphiphilic compounds such as lipids and surfactants are fundamental building blocks of soft matter. We describe experiments with poly(1,2-butadiene-b-ethylene oxide) (PB-PEO) diblock copolymers, which form Y-junctions and three-dimensional networks in water at weight fractions of PEOintermediate to those associated with vesicle and wormlike micelle morphologies. Fragmentation of the network produces a nonergodic array of complex reticulated particles that have been imaged by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy. Data obtained with two sets of PB-PEOcompounds indicate that this type of self-assembly appears above a critical molecular weight. These block copolymers represent versatile amphiphiles, mimicking certain low molecular weight three-component (surfactant/water/oil) microemulsions, without addition of a separate hydrophobe.

Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bates{at}cems.umn.edu

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