Micellar solutions of a symmetrical amphiphilic ABA triblock copolymer with a temperature-responsive shell

摘要

We have studied the thermal behavior of an ABA triblock copolymer having short, deuterated polystyrene end-blocks and a longer poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) middle block, the latter exhibiting a lower critical solution temperature. The collapse of the micelles was investigated using dynamic light scattering. Small-angle neutron scattering with contrast matching allowed us to quantify the core-shell structure of the micelles as well as their correlations as a function of temperature.