MANIPULATION OF SINGLE MACROMOLECULE AND DEVELOPMENT OF MOLECULAR ORGANIZATION

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This research project aimed at design and manipulation of amphiphilically organized polymers by taking advantage of amphiphilic macromonomers. Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and other water soluble macromonomers carrying styryl or methacrylate end groups, hydrophobically enhanced by alkylene spacers, were prepared. These macromonomers were found to polymerize very rapidly in water to afford regular comb polymers with hydrophobic trunks and hydrophilic branches, and copolymerize with a hydrophobic monomer in water or alcoholic media to give controlled polymeric microspheres of submicron to micron size. This project has thus disclosed a basic mechanism of micellar polymerization of these amphiphilic macromonomers in water, conformational characterization of regularly and densely branched comb polymers, and a fundamental guideline to the polymeric microspheres' design. In addition, a new type amphiphilic comb polymers consisting of a conducting main chain and PEO grafted chains. The comb polymers synthesized in this study were cast onto a mica to carry out the atomic force microscopic observation. We succeeded in the observation and manipulation of a single polymer.