A simple, versatile approach for the roughening of polymer microparticles surfaces via a deformation technique in the presence of an inorganic matrix is presented here. The process consists of straightforward steps: (1) preparation of a bicomposite colloidal sol, that is polymer particles and inorganic particles, dispersed in a liquid, (2) drying of the mixture onto a suitable hard substrate, (3) heating the dried film above the glass transition temperature of the polymer, and (4) re-dispersion and chemical etching of the inorganic medium. The primary driver is capillary imbibition of the polymer melt into the inorganic colloidal template. In addition, 2D particle tracking experiments of dispersed rough particles in water were performed to probe the diffusional behaviour of the roughened objects in comparison with their smooth precursors. We show that, despite large scale roughness (up to 10% asperity size with respect to particle diameter), Stokes law is obeyed and the particle motion can be modelled simply with the Stokes-Einstein-Sutherland relation.

An ABCA tetrablock terpolymer with excellent thermogelling properties in aqueous solutions has been identified by tuning the architecture of ethylene glycol-based tetrablock terpolymers. Specifically, it gels at concentrations as low as 5 wt % at a wide range of temperatures, including body temperature. Nine tetrablock copolymers based on hydrophilic oligo­(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate with average molar mass (MM) 300 g mol–1 (OEGMA300, A), hydrophobic n-butyl methacrylate (BuMA, B), and hydrophilic and thermoresponsive di­(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (DEGMA, C) were synthesized and screened. The MM and composition were kept constant, while the tetrablock architecture was systematically varied. Specifically, copolymers with (i) two OEGMA300 blocks (ABCA, ABAC, and ACAB), (ii) two BuMA blocks (BACB, BABC, and ABCB), and (iii) two DEGMA blocks (CABC, CACB, and ACBC) were fabricated. The self-assembly and thermoresponsive properties of their aqueous solutions were investigated with the polymer architecture governing their solubility, micellization, thermoresponsive, and rheological properties.

In this study, a new methacrylate monomer with two propylene glycol groups on the side chain, di(propylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (diPGMA), was synthesised via an esterification reaction. This new...

Polymer chemistry, composition and molar mass are factors that are known to affect cytotoxicity however the influence of polymer architecture has not been investigated systematically. In this study the influence...

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