Hierarchical Self-Assembly of Tadpole Shape Amphiphilic Cyclic Copolypeptide Polymers
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Distinctive nanoparticle shapes from amphiphilic copolypeptide self-assembly provide numerous applications in biomedical engineering. In this work we have synthesized a two-tailed tadpole-shaped poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)20-block-(cyclic-poly(L-lysine)25)-block-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)20 amphiphilic copolymer using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization, click cycloaddition reaction and ring-opening polymerization of α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides. The amphiphillic polypeptide copolymers were self-assembled into hierarchical structures such as spherical micelles, two-dimensional square, cubic, rod like micelles and thread-like fiber morphologies under various self-assembly conditions, which was confirmed using transmission electron microscopy. The self-assembly process was controlled by modifying parameters such as the type and ratio of solvent and the polymer concentration.