Thermo-Responsive Films Based Upon Diels-Alder Chemistry and Block Copolymer Phase Separation

摘要

The surface properties of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) films have been modified using gold particles functionalized with block copolymer-based ligands of poly(styrene) (PS) and PEG. The ligands were synthesized using Diels- Alder chemistry to join the PS and PEG blocks into linear diblock copolymers, which were attached to gold particles with a thiol terminal functionality on the PS block. The block copolymer ligands compatibilized the Au particles by creating a PEG shell around the Au and PS core. The Diels-Alder linkage, however, is temperature sensitive, and by annealing the films at 90 C, the PEG blocks of the ligand were separated from the PS-functionalized Au core. The Au particles were thus rendered immiscible in the PEG matrices and migrated to the film surfaces.