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Topological changes in telechelic micelles: flowers versus stars

View ORCID ProfileVladimir A. Baulin
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.13.455870
Vladimir A. Baulin
Departament Química Física i Inorgànica, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Marcel.lí Domingo s/n, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
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  • ORCID record for Vladimir A. Baulin
  • For correspondence: vladimir.baulin@urv.cat
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Abstract

Micellization and morphology of spherical telechelic micelles formed by tri-block copolymers with short solvophobic end blocks at low concentrations is discussed within scaling arguments and Single Chain Mean Field Theory (SCMFT). In ultra-dilute regime, individual telechelic polymer chains can exist in solution in two distinct states: open linear chain conformation with two free ends and closed loop conformation, when two ends are connected by the effective attraction between two solvophobic ends. At concentrations below gelation point, closed loops tend to form micelles comprised mostly of loops in flower-like micelles, while linear polymers in open conformations tend to form star-shaped aggregates with one hydrophobic dangling end. Resulting two kinds of micelles have remarkably different topology and dimensions, while the transition between them can be driven by the entropy, namely conformation changes between domination of the looped and linear conformations. As a result, the transition between two types of micelles lies in a narrow interaction parameters range. Thus, these topological micelles are very sensitive to the changes in external environment and they can serve as a very sensitive stimuli-responsive smart materials.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted August 13, 2021.
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Topological changes in telechelic micelles: flowers versus stars
Vladimir A. Baulin
bioRxiv 2021.08.13.455870; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.13.455870
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Topological changes in telechelic micelles: flowers versus stars
Vladimir A. Baulin
bioRxiv 2021.08.13.455870; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.13.455870

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