Double hydrophilic block copolymers with switchable secondary structure as additives for crystallization control

Polymer‐Controlled Crystallization of Unique Mineral Superstructures

“…[34] The property of the mixed solvent has been found to play a key pole in controlling the growth, polymorphism, and shape of CaCO 3 mineral. [33] Further study indicated that uniform ellipsoidal-like particles with multiple thorns stretching out along different directions on the surface can be obtained at 14 AE 2 8C in DMF (Fig. 3c), which are quite different from those spherical structures formed in aqueous solution.…”

“…[26] Even though vaterite microspheres can be crystallized in water solution using starburst dendrimers [32] and poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(L-glutamic acid) (PEG(m)-b-pGlu(n)) [33] as crystal growth modifier, the vaterite spheres obtained are not uniform. Recently, we have demonstrated that highly monodisperse vaterite microspheres can be produced under control of the artificial DHBC PEG(m)-b-pGlu(n) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF)/water mixed solvent with a suitable volume ratio by taking advantage of the synergic effects of the block copolymer and a selectively mixed solvent (Figs.…”

Correlation between structures of chiral polymers and their efficiency for chiral resolution by crystallization

“…We have to point out that in other study for example Colfen et al showed that copolymers based on PEO and short acidic polypeptides with a random conformation of the peptide blocks are more advantageous in the mineralization of biominerals of CaCO 3 and BaSO 4 . 20 Also the crystallization of CdS in the presence of PEG block copolymers with linear or branched dendritic poly(ethylene imine) blocks 32 show that the flexible branched polymers has highest binding group density and the optimum polymer architecture, compared to a flexible linear block and an organized, but stiff, dendritic block.…”

“…Copolymers are a new class of polymers that can be tuned for a wide range of applications, covering different aspects such as the stabilization of colloids, 15 crystal growth modification, 16 induced micelle formation, 17,18 and polyelectrolyte complexes to novel drug carrier systems. 19 Recently, Colfen and coworkers 20 described the synthesis and the secondary structures of a series of double hydrophilic block copolymers based on polyethyleneglycol and short chiral amino acid blocks. It was shown that the secondary structures of the peptide segments in these double hydrophilic block copolymers could be switched between a helical motif and a disordered random coil by temperature or pH.…”

Bio-inspired Mineralization Using Hydrophilic Polymers

“…Spherical vaterite microparticles were also found if acidic polypeptide blocks like PGlu were used as functional blocks in a PEO-based DHBC [341,351]. These structures are again formed from amorphous precursor nanoparticles (50 nm), which are remarkably uniform.…”