The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

Combining patches on colloidal particles is an effective strategy for preparing colloidal chains. Spherical micelles were prepared from PS-b-P4VP diblock copolymers in a selective solvent for the PS corona, followed by cross-linking of the P4VP core. Subsequent adjustment of the solvent quality to favor the core while remaining compatible with the corona induced segregation of the corona into two distinct patches. These micelles were further assembled into colloidal chains through patch merging. In this presentation, we applied the same strategy of patch and chain formation to spherical micelles consisting of a PMMA corona and a P4VP core. Both spherical and patchy micelles were visualized by TEM following negative staining with uranyl acetate. Upon increasing solvent polarity, the patchy micelles assembled into colloidal chains through merging of PMMA patches, indicating that a variety of diblock copolymers can be used to form patchy micelles and colloidal chains.