We report a simple photolithographic approach for the creation and micropatterning of chemical functionality on polymer surfaces by use of surface-active block copolymers that contain protected photoactive functional groups. The block copolymers self-assemble at the substrate-air interface to generate a surface that is initially hydrophobic with low surface tension but that can be rendered hydr...

Water-soluble, amphiphilic diblock copolymers were synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. They consist of poly(butyl acrylate) as hydrophobic block with a low glass transition temperature and three different nonionic water-soluble blocks, namely, the classical hydrophilic block poly(dimethylacrylamide), the strongly hydrophilic poly(acryloyloxyethyl meth...

Interaction studies between a set of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) based cationic bottle-brush block copolymers (BBCPs) and calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) were carried out using steady state fluorescence spectroscopy, UV melting experiments and dynamic light scattering measurements. Results suggested that these cationic block copolymers could effectively bind with negatively charged DNA. Although electr...

Considering the largely chiral nature of biological systems, there is interest in drug delivery systems. Here, we investigate for first time polymer micelles based on poly(2-oxazoline) (POx) ABA-type triblock copolymers with and racemic hydrophobic blocks formulation achiral drugs. Specifically, poly(2-ethyl-4-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (pEtEtOx) poly(2-propyl-4-methyl-2-oxazoline) (pPrMeOx) were used ...

The adsorption of amphiphilic poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(epsilon-caprolactone) and poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(gamma-methyl-epsilon-caprolactone) copolymers in aqueous solution on silica and glass surfaces has been investigated by flow microcalorimetry, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), surface forces, and complementary techniques. The studied copolymers consist of a poly(ethylene oxide) ...

A series of fluorine-containing amphiphilic graft copolymers consisting of a semi-fluorinated poly(2methyl-1,4-bistrifluorovinyloxybenzene) (PMBTFVB) backbone and hydrophilic poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) side chains was synthesized by the combination of thermal cycloaddition polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) through the grafting-from strategy. 2-Methyl-1,4-bistrifluorov...

Block copolymers are increasingly being applied in areas such as transfection, membrane sealing, site-specific targeting, and bionanoengineering yet there is a relative paucity of assays available for simple, stable and reproducible colorimetric determination of copolymer concentration in solution. We have focused on improving the accuracy and reproducibility of a modified version of the Stewar...

Both chitosan and polylactide/polyglycolide have good biocompatibility and can be used to produce tissue engineering scaffolds for cultured cells. However the synthetic scaffolds lack groups that would facilitate their modification, whereas chitosan has extensive active amide and hydroxyl groups which would allow it to be subsequently modified for the attachment of peptides, proteins and drugs....

Hybrid molecular brushes (HMBs), or bottlebrush polymers, are polymeric constructs containing a linear backbone and side chains with different chemical characteristics. Hybrid-block graft copolymers (HCPs) similar to traditional HMBs, except their consists of more than one polymer. We developed facile method for the synthesis family amphiphilic, biodegradable HCPs composed two blocks: hydrophil...