Self-Assembly of Synthetic and Biological Polymeric Systems of ...

4.3.- Appended papers.
In the present work, the solution behaviour and surface adsorption properties of three different
block copolymer (E12S10, E10S10E10 and E137S18E137), have been studied. These block copolymers
display different volume-to-length ratios of the hydrophobic block and of relative lengths of the
poly(oxyethylene) block ; and also polymer architecture may have an important role in controlling
the morphology of polymeric aggregates and surface adsorption behaviour of these copolymers.
To known the influence of such parameters, we studied the self-assembly properties and the
different structural aggregates of the three copolymers in aqueous solution.
For copolymer E12S10, coexistence of spherical micelles with vesicular structures is detected. To the
best of our knowledge, the spontaneous formation of vesicles by poly(oxystyrene)-
poly(oxyethylene) block copolymers has been first reported here. On the other hand, formation of
elongated micelles upon self-assembly of copolymer E10S10E10 in dilute solution is elucidated from
light scattering and transmission electron techniques. In the case of E137S18E137, typical spherical
micelles are observed, as expected. The micellization properties of the latter copolymer had been
already partially studied previously (89)(90), and the present study completes this gap.
On the other hand, fundamental studies of polystyrene oxide-based block copolymers performed
at either the air-water or the water-organic solvent interface can provide valuable information on
their interfacial phase behaviour to further guide their possible use in different biomedical and
coating applications. To fill this gap, in the present work, we studied the surface behaviour and
surface properties of these three copolymers, E12S10, E10S10E10 and E137S18E137, by different
techniques.
To do this work, different techniques such as surface tension, Langmuir-Blodgett through, drop
tensiometry, light scattering, transmission and scanning electron microscopies (TEM and SEM),
atomic force microscopy (AFM), polarized optical microscopy (POM) and rheometry were used.
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