Electrostatics in the self-assembly of macromolecular surfactants

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1997 EDP Sciences
, , Citation E. Mendes et al 1997 EPL 40 521 DOI 10.1209/epl/i1997-00498-4

0295-5075/40/5/521

Abstract

We report on a small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) study of dilute solutions of neutral and charged polystyrene-polyisoprene (PS-b-PI) diblock copolymers in dimethyl acetamide (DMAc), a polar selective solvent for PS. This is a model macromolecular surfactant system: the low glass temperature of the PI block ensures that thermodynamic equilibrium can be attained; the ionic character of the copolymers is provided by a single sulfonate group at the free chain end of the PI block. The crossover from ionic to non-ionic behaviour is investigated by addition of salt. The results are compared to theoretical predictions for micellization of these model macromolecular systems.

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10.1209/epl/i1997-00498-4