Self-Assembled Aggregates of Rod-Coil Block Copolymers and Their Solubilization and Encapsulation of Fullerenes
Samson A. Jenekhe,
*
X. Linda Chen
Amphiphilic poly(phenylquinoline)-block-polystyrene
rod-coil diblock copolymers were observed to self-organize into robust, micrometer-scale, spherical, vesicular, cylindrical, and lamellar aggregates from solution. These diverse aggregate morphologies were
seen at each composition, but their size scale decreased with a
decreasing fraction of the rigid-rod block. Compared to coil-coil block
copolymer micelles, the present aggregates are larger by about two
orders of magnitude and have aggregation numbers of over
108. The spherical and cylindrical aggregates have large
hollow cavities. Only spherical aggregates with aggregation numbers in
excess of 109 were formed in the presence of fullerenes
(C60, C70) in solution, resulting in the
solubilization and encapsulation of over 1010 fullerene
molecules per aggregate.
Departments of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, University of
Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627-0166, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
jenekhe{at}che.rochester.edu
