Reversible Restructuring of Aqueous Block Copolymer Assemblies through Stimulus-Induced Changes in Amphiphilicity

摘要

Controlling the self-assembly of amphiphiles into nanometer-and micron-scale aggregates is of interest in applications that involve biphasic systems, including drug delivery and catalysis. As the relative volumes occupied by the hydrophobic and hydrophilic components of amphiphiles strongly influence the structural characteristics of the assemblies they form in water, amphiphiles for which the hydrophilic/hydrophobic volume ratio can be reversibly switched between two values should be capable of undergoing drastic changes in the sizes and shapes of the assemblies that they form.