U.S.-Hungary Materials Research: Effects of Polymer Architecture on the Aggregation Behavior of Amphiphilic Block Copolymers in Water

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INT 0099682Faust, RudolfThis U.S.-Hungarian research project between Rudolf Faust at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and his partner Miklos Zsuga of Lajos Kossuth University, Debrecen, features synthesis of novel amphiphilic block copolymers with non-linear architectures by living cationic polymerization and the study of architectural effects on their aggregation behavior. Building upon their previously developed methodologies that employ static light and dynamic light scattering, the researchers intend to investigate the architectural effects on structural parameters such as aggregation number, overall size, core, and shell dimensions of block copolymer micelles in water at different temperatures. Their results may yield some relatively inexpensive amphiphiles and non-ionic surfactants with many potential applications, but for which structure must be better understood to optimize performance.Above the critical micelle concentration in dilute aqueous solutions, amphiphilic block copolymers self-assemble into micelles with a hydrophobic insoluble core and a hydrophilic shell. The U.S.-Hungarian team maintains that block copolymer architecture (star-shaped, H-shaped, graft etc.) is an important parameter in micelle formation. With this in mind, they intend to synthesize non-linear block architectures consisting of hydrophobic polyisobutylene (PIB) and hydrophilic poly(methyl vinyl ether) (PMeVE) segments. They expect resulting amphiphilic star-block copolymers to serve as model polymers for characterizing architecture/property relationships of macromolecular amphiphiles and non-ionic surfactants. This polymer research project fulfills the program objective of advancing scientific knowledge by enabling experts in the United States and Central Europe to combine complementary talents and share research resources in areas of strong mutual interest and competence.