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| Volume 1, Issue 01 - 2006, January |
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| 2 |
Nanostructures Formed by Assosiative Telechelic Polyelectrolytes in Acidic Aqueous Solutions |
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| Pages 13-22 |
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| NIKOLETTA D. STAVROULI1, CONSTANTINOS TSITSILIANIS1*, ANTON KIRIY2, GANNA GORODYSKA2, MANFRED STAMM2 |
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1 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras 26504, Patras, Greece and Institute of Chemical Engineering and High Temperature Chemical Processes, FORTH-ICE/HT, P.O. Box 1414, 26504 Patras, Greece,
2 Leibniz Institute fϋr Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Straίe 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany |
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| Received 9 September 2005; accepted 12 October 2005 |
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| A model poly(methyl methacrylate–b–2-vinyl pyridine–b–methyl methacrylate) (PMMA-P2VP-PMMA), ABA triblock copolymer was synthesized by anionic polymerization and its association was investigated in aqueous media by static and dynamic light scattering and Atomic Force Microscopy. At low pH, P2VP is protonated and therefore is transformed to a cationic polyelectrolyte, exhibiting hydrophilic character. Provided that P2VP is end-capped by very short hydrophobic PMMA blocks, the system is characterized as “telechelic” associative polyelectrolyte. This polymer self assembles in dilute aqueous solutions, forming micelles bearing both loops and dangling ends in the corona. At higher concentrations a transient network is formed through a disruption-reorganization mechanism. The so formed physical gel exhibits rheological properties characteristic of telechelic polyelectrolytes. |
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