文献类型：期刊文献

英文题名：Supramolecular step-growth polymerization kinetics of pre-assembled triblock copolymer micelles

作者：Lu, Yingqing[1];Gao, Liang[1];Lin, Jiaping[1];Wang, Liquan[1];Zhang, Liangshun[1];Cai, Chunhua[1]

机构：[1]East China Univ Sci & Technol, Sch Mat Sci & Engn, Shanghai Key Lab Adv Polymer Mat,Minist Educ, State Key Lab Bioreactor Engn,Key Lab Ultrafine M, Shanghai 200237, Peoples R China

年份：2019

卷号：10

期号：25

起止页码：3461

外文期刊名：POLYMER CHEMISTRY

收录：;EI(收录号：20192707124543);WOS:【SCI-EXPANDED(收录号:WOS:000472775800002)】；

基金：This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51833003, 51621002, 21474029, 51573049). Support from projects of the Shanghai municipality (16520721900) is also appreciated.

语种：英文

外文关键词：Polymerization - Block copolymers - Kinetics - Self assembly - Growth kinetics - Defects - Supramolecular chemistry

摘要：The supramolecular polymerization of micelles and nanoparticles, drawing inspiration from the classic polymer science, provides an innovative concept to elucidate the organization of nanoscopic building units into one-dimensional hierarchical structures for wider applications in biotechnology and nanoscience. In contrast to the conventional molecular polymerization, the fundamental principles, especially the kinetics, of the supramolecular polymerization are rather less understood. Herein, capitalizing on the pre-assembled triblock copolymer micelles as prototypical systems, we propose a joint experimental-theoretical framework to probe into the mechanism and kinetics of the supramolecular polymerization. It is discovered that the self-assembly of micelles is induced by the structural defects where the core is partially exposed as a result of the imperfect coverage of the corona. The self-assembly of micelles reveals some similarities to molecular step-growth polymerization. A theoretical model of the supramolecular step-growth polymerization is proposed to complement the experimental results of defect-driven self-assembly kinetics, and reveals the essential distinction between the molecular and supramolecular polymerization kinetics. Furthermore, the kinetics and manner of self-assembly can be finely tuned by regulating the structural features of building units. These findings establish a quantitative framework for the supramolecular polymerization kinetics at the nanoscopic level that can aid in designing complex architectures and intrinsic properties of emerging materials.