Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Self-Assembly And Stimuli-Responsive Properties Of Amphiphilic Self-Immolative Block Co-Polymers, Thomas Mackenzie Gungor

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In recent years, degradable polymers have become increasingly researched for their applications in drug delivery systems, adhesives, and tissue engineering. Self-immolative polymers (SIPs) are of particular utility due to predictable end-to-end backbone depolymerization after a stimuli-responsive end-cap cleavage. There are examples of incorporating a hydrophobic SIP into an amphiphilic block-copolymer, followed by self-assembly in aqueous media forming various nanoparticle morphologies. However, their self-assembly behaviour has not been described in detail, and there are no general synthetic methods that allow for their synthesis with good control over the relative hydrophilic block ratio, the major factor controlling their morphology. This thesis presents …