Self-assembly in the solutions of poly(methyl methacrylates) end-capped with fluorophenyl groups

Abstract

Self-assembly of poly(methyl methacrylates) end-capped with -Ge(C 6 F 5 ) 3 groups (PMMA-F) has been studied in a selective solvent (acetone) by means of photon correlation spectroscopy and static light scattering. PMMA-F's of different molecular weights (MW), were obtained by radical polymerization in the presence of a chain transfer agent, HGe(C 6 F 5 ) 3 . At MW>130 000 conformational and hydrodynamic properties of PMMA-F's is shown to be the same as of PMMA. At MW less than130 000 an aggregation starts: additional fraction of large scatterers appears in PCS. Large aggregates of R h =200 -300 nm are likely to be formed by bridged micellar clusters. Presence of large aggregates indicates a super strong segregation limit predicted in the work of Semenov et al.

Conformations of Poly(Methyl Methacrylates) End-Capped with Pentafluorophenyl Groups

“…Table I lists the values of M w determined with SLS and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). Details of the molecular mass characterization with SEC were described in Gasilova et al [9] The M w values determined with SLS are slightly higher than those determined with SEC:…”

“…Table I presents gyration radius of unmodified PMMA in theta-solvents, R un gh , calculated with Equation (2) [9] we get e ¼ 0.146. Table I shows that R g !…”