Université de Fribourg

Multiresponsive reversible gels based on charge-driven assembly

Lemmers, Marc ; Sprakel, Joris ; Voets, Ilja K. ; Gucht, Jasper van der ; Stuart, Martien A. Cohen

In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2010, vol. 49, no. 4, p. 708 - 711

Coassembly of an ABA triblock copolymer with charged end blocks and an oppositely charged polyelectrolyte yields gels that respond to changes in concentration, temperature, ionic strength, pH value, and charge composition. Above the critical gel concentration, the triblock copolymers bridge micelles, forming a sample-spanning transient network of interconnected micelles.

Université de Fribourg

Towards a structural characterization of charge-driven polymer micelles

Voets, Ilja K. ; Vries, Renko de ; Fokkink, Remco ; Sprakel, Joris ; May, Roland P. ; Keizer, Arie de ; Cohen Stuart, Martien A.

In: The European Physical Journal E, 2009, vol. 30, no. 4, p. 351-359

Light scattering and small-angle neutron scattering experiments were performed on comicelles of several combinations of oppositely charged (block co)polymers in aqueous solutions. Fundamental differences between the internal structure of this novel type of micelle --termed complex coacervate core micelle (C3Ms), polyion complex (PIC) micelle, block ionomer complex (BIC), or interpolyelectrolyte...