Shaping Block Copolymer Microparticles by Positively Charged Polymeric Nanoparticles

• DOI: 10.1002/marc.202200143
• Publication Date: 2022-04-09T08:30:04Z
• Authors: Mengmeng Zhang; Min Ren; Yuping Zhang; Zaiyan Hou; Simeng Liu; Lianbin Zhang; Jiangping Xu; Jintao Zhu
• Keywords: Cationic polymerization; Electrostatics; Polystyrene; Particle (ecology); Janus Particles

Shape-transforming block copolymer (BCP) microparticles have attracted extensive attention due to their promising applications in nanotechnology, biomedicines, interfacial science, and other fields. As performance is highly associated shape structure, it very important realize the precise control of particle shape. In this report, a method proposed regulate structure polystyrene-b-polydimethoxysiloxane (PS-b-PDMS) by using positively charged core-crosslinked nanoparticles (CNPs) as cosurfactant, combining with cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The electrostatic repulsive interactions between CNPs CTAB dominate PS-b-PDMS particles. Upon introducing NaCl, repulsion reduced, resulting reshape particles from striped Janus ellipsoids onion-like microspheres at critical concentration NaCl (cNaCl ). Interestingly, found that cNaCl first increases then reaches plateau, increase crosslinking degree CNPs. work provides simple strategy tailor morphology BCPs manipulating interaction.