One‐Step Preparation of Thermo‐Responsive Poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide)‐Based Block Copolymer Nanoparticles by Aqueous Photoinitiated Polymerization‐Induced Self‐Assembly

作者：Jun He, Dongni Lin, Ying Chen, Li Zhang, Jianbo Tan · 发表于：Macromolecular Rapid Communications · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1002/marc.202100201 · 被引用次数：19 · 研究领域：Advanced Polymer Synthesis and Characterization、Polymer Surface Interaction Studies

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) is an important thermo-responsive polymer that finds applications in many areas. However, the preparation of PNIPAM-based block copolymer nanoparticles with higher-order morphologies at high solids is challenging. Herein, aqueous photoinitiated polymerization-induced self-assembly (photo-PISA) of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) using an asymmetrical cross-linker is developed for one-step preparation of PNIPAM-based block copolymer nanoparticles with various morphologies (spheres, worms, and vesicles). It is demonstrated that reaction temperature has a great effect on both polymerization kinetics and morphologies of block copolymer nanoparticles. Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) reactive groups embedded inside the PNIPAM core provide a landscape for further functionalization. PNIPAM-based block copolymer nanoparticles with different surface properties are prepared by seeded photo-PISA at room temperature. Finally, these block copolymer nanoparticles are also used as additives to tune mechanical properties of hydrogels via covalent cross-linking.