Low band gap conjugated polymers with proper energy levels for charge transfer are required to achieve high-efficiency polymer solar cells. We report the synthesis and characterization of two new regioregular copolymers that are based on 3-alkoxythiophene monomers: poly(3-octylthiophene-2,5-diyl-co-3-decyloxythiophene-2,5-diyl) (POT-co-DOT) and poly{(9,9-dioctylfluorene)-2,7-diyl-alt-[4,7-bis(3...

A series of polymers and copolymers of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) were synthesized in order to find surfaces that would adsorb minimal amounts of protein. The adsorption of albumin, lysozyme and immunoglobulin G from a three-way mixture of these proteins in isotonic buffered saline to the polymers was measured using 125I-labeled proteins. Apparently high pr...

Di- and triblock non-ionic copolymers based on poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(propylene oxide) were studied for the stabilization of nanoparticles in water at high ionic strength. The effect of the molecular architecture (di- vs. triblock) of these amphiphilic copolymers was investigated by using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as probes for colloidal stability. The results demonstrate that both di- ...

BACKGROUND: Self-assembling amphiphilic block copolymers with incorporated, biologically relevant functionalities have received limited attention, partly due to the fact that biomolecules are not robust enough to synthetic manipulation, do not lend themselves readily to systematic studies due to their complexity and leach rather quickly from a vesicle or membrane when physically incorporated. S...

The separation of a mixture of three poly(styrene-block-t-butyl methacrylate) copolymers (PS-b-PtBMA), consisting of polystyrene (PS) blocks of similar length and t-butyl methacrylate (PtBMA) blocks of different lengths, was performed using various chromatographic techniques, that is, a gradient liquid chromatography on reversed-phase (C18 and C8) and normal-phase columns, a liquid chromatograp...

Self-assembly of block-copolymers provides a route to the fabrication of small (size, <50 nm) and dense (pitch, <100 nm) features with an accuracy that approaches even the demanding specifications for nanomanufacturing set by the semiconductor industry. A key requirement for practical applications, however, is a rapid, high-resolution method for patterning block-copolymers with different molecu...

A one-pot synthesis of block copolymer with regioregular poly(monothiocarbonate) block is described via metal-free catalysis. Lewis bases such as guanidine, quaternary onium salts, and Lewis acid triethyl borane (TEB) were equivalently combined and used as the catalysts. By using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the macromolecular chain transfer agent (CTA), narrow polydispersity block copolymers w...

Forming nanostructures with controlled size and shape is one of the most challenging tasks in material science. Amphiphilic block copolymers are of special interest because of their ability to self-assemble on the nanoscale. The formation of micelles has potential applications such as in drug delivery, biosensors, and gene therapy. Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) is a versatile te...

The growth of bone marrow stromal cells was assessed in vitro in macroporous hydrogels based on 2-hydro- xyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) copolymers with different electric charges. Copolymers of HEMA with sodium methacrylate (MA(-)) carried a negative electric charge, copolymers of HEMA with [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride (MOETA(-)) carried a positive electric charge and terp...

BACKGROUND Block polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) were reported to be resistant against polymer aging that negatively affects polymer properties. Recently, more and more attempts have been directed to make PHA block copolymers. Diblock copolymers PHB-b-PHHx consisting of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) block covalently bonded with poly-3-hydroxyhexanoate (PHHx) block were for the first time produced su...