Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Aqueous Raft Synthesis Of Stimuli-Responsive, Amphiphilic Block Copolymers And Self-Assembly Behavior In Solution And Incorporation Into Lbl Films, Matthew Grady Kellum

Dissertations

Of all the living radical polymerization techniques, reversible addition– fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization is arguably the most versatile in terms of the reaction conditions (e.g. temperature and solvent selection), monomer selection (e.g. neutral, anionic, cationic, and zwitterionic), and purification. Since the introduction of RAFT in 1998, the McCormick research group and others including the Lowe, Sumerlin, and Davis research groups have synthesized a wide range of (co)polymers with predetermined molecular weights, low polydispersities, and advanced architectures utilizing aqueous RAFT (ARAFT) polymerization. These research groups have also studied how various block copolymers exhibit stimuli-responsive behavior due to a change in …

Self-Assembly And Gold Nanoparticle Cross-Linking Of Stimuliresponsive Block Copolymers Synthesized Bt Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization, Adam Eugene Smith

Dissertations

The ability of amphiphilic block copolymers to self-assemble into various morphologies in aqueous solution in response to specific stimuli has attracted widespread interest for potential applications as targeted drug delivery and diagnostic vehicles. Stimuli-responsive block copolymers afford a facile method for tuning the hydrophilic mass fraction to provide access to various solution morphologies. Reversible additionfragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization provides the ability to prepare stimuli-responsive block copolymers while maintaining precise control over the macromolecular characteristics (molecular weight, copolymer composition, functionality, etc.) that dictate nanostructure morphology.

This work may be divided into four sections. In the first section the synthesis and …