Micellar salts, catalytic effects

Catalytic Effects of Micellar Poly(3-alkyl-l-vinylimidazolium) Salts on the Hydrolysis of Phenyl Esters... 

In summary, the examples given above demonstrate that immobilization of metal salts in a block copolymer micellar system followed by a reduction step is a suitable method to synthesize stable colloids with small particle sizes and narrow size distributions. Moreover, such systems are very interesting for catalytic applications because they offer the possibility of designing tailored catalysts for special demands and can be easily tuned by the choice and combination of different polymer block types and lengths, different types of the metal precursor and of the reduction method used. Additional introduction of further functionalities such as charges or chiral groups could make these catalyst systems even more versatile and effective. 

Since the micellar characteristics of the PEO-b-P2VP-Pd block copolymer aggregates in a given solvent and at a given pH may influence the catalytic properties, this was another important variable for the present system. PEO-fe-P2VP forms micelles in water whose characteristics are mainly preserved after metallation (incorporation of a metal salt and metal nanoparticle formation) [49], but the behavior of this system in the presence of isopropanol is more complicated. To clarify the effect of solvent composition and pH on micellar characteristics, TEM and atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies of the key reaction mixtures were performed. Table 3.2 summarizes the catalytic data and mean diameters of the micelles and micellar aggregates obtained from AEM. 

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