The development of stimuli responsive polymers has progressed significantly with novel preparation techniques, which has allowed access to new materials with unique properties. Dual thermoresponsive (double temperature responsive) block copolymers are particularly of interest as their properties can change depending on the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) or upper critical solution te...

Biofunctional block copolymers are becoming increasingly attractive materials as active components in biosensors and other nanoscale electronic devices. We have described two different classes of block copolymers with biofuctional properties. Biofunctionality for block copolymers is achieved through functionalization with appropriate biospecific ligands. We have synthesized block copolymers of ...

Facile, one-step synthesis of self-assembling, cationic block copolymers of poly(2-N-(dimethylaminoethyl) methacrylate) (pDMAEMA) and PEO-PPO-PEO (Pluronic®) is developed. The copolymers are obtained via free-radical polymerization of DMAEMA initiated by Pluronic-radicals generated by cerium (IV). The copolymers possess surface activity, are polycationic at pH<7.1, and self-assemble into micell...

SiO2-supported silyl chromate catalyst is an important industrial catalyst for production of high grade HDPE pipe materials. The control of the short chain branch (SCB) distribution using this catalyst system is still a great challenge. In this work, ethylene and 1-hexene copolymers were synthesized using SiO2-supported silyl chromate catalyst combined with triisobutylaluminium (TIBA), triethyl...

~Ve present results of the adsorption of charged diblock copolymers at the free interface between air and solution. These copolymers are water soluble and act as surfactants above some concentration. Through thermodynamic and diffuse X-ray surface scattering measurements, we demonstrate the influence of the concentration on the formed adsorbed layer. While sufficiently long copolymers adsorb by...

Pluronics are a class of amphiphilic triblock copolymers that are known to interact with cellular membranes in interesting ways. The solubility of these triblock copolymers in free lipid membranes can be altered with temperature, allowing the possibility of tuning their membrane insertion. However, for supported lipid membranes, the asymmetric local environment and the strong influence of the s...

The self-assembled morphologies of amphiphilic ABC star triblock copolymers consisting of hydrophilic A blocks and hydrophobic B and C blocks and the blends with their counterpart linear AB diblock copolymers in solution are investigated by 2D real-space implementation of self-consistent field theory (SCFT) simulation. The star triblock copolymers self-assemble in solution to form various micel...

A series of polycarboxylate ether-based copolymers that include acrylic acid, 2acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid, and polyethylene glycol-1000 was synthesized and the performance of these copolymers as rheology modifiers in aqueous alumina suspensions was characterized. We discussed the effect of monomer feed ratio and molecular weight on dispersing ability of these copolymers and on ext...

Copolymers of a liquid crystalline monomer, 2,5-bis[(4-methoxyphenyl)oxycarbonyl]styrene (MPCS), with St and MMA were prepared by free radical polymerization at low conversion in chlorobenzene with 2,20-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator. The copolymers of poly(MPCS-co-St) and poly(MPCS-co-MMA) were characterized by H NMR and GPC. The monomer reactivity ratios were determined by using t...

Objective(s): Micelles have been studied as nanoparticulate drug delivery systems for improving the topical ocular delivery of hydrophobic drugs. The objective of this study was to develop and characterize dexamethasone-loaded polycaprolactone-polyethylene glycol-polycaprolactone (PCL-PEG-PCL) micelles to improve patient compliance and enhance the ocular bioavailability of poorly water-soluble ...