Title
Disk-like micelles with cylindrical pores from amphiphilic polypeptide block copolymers
Author
Xue Lin, Xiaohua He, Chaoqun Hu, Yuxiang Chen, Yiyong Mai, Shaoliang Lin
Year
2016
Journal
Polymer Chemistry
Abstract
An unprecedented two-dimensional (2D) disk-like micelle with cylindrical pores was achieved for the first time by self-assembly of the amphiphilic block copolypeptide poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PEG-b-PBLG) in solution. The aggregate structures were fully characterized by TEM, SEM, 1H NMR, AFM and CD. The research results showed that the α-helical conformation of PBLG blocks plays a key role in the formation process of a disk-like morphology. By tuning the ratio between the hydrophilic block and hydrophobic block in PEG-b-PBLG copolymers, various aggregate structures including micelles, disk-like micelles, vesicles and large vesicles can be achieved. The research results are helpful to expand the self-assembly fields and can provide more nanostructural materials.
Instrument
J-815
Keywords
Circular dichroism, Secondary structure, Aggregation, Polymers, Nanostructures, Materials