Micellization process, amphiphilic

The self-assembly of polymer chains in aqueous solution can also take place due to a micellization process. Amphiphilic block copolymers (e.g., diblock or triblock copolymers) can self-assemble in aqueous solution and further be cross-linked... 

Polymeric micelle formation occurs as a result of two forces. One is an attractive force that leads to the association of molecules while the other one, is a repulsive force, preventing unlimited growth of the micelles to a distinct macroscopic phase (Price, 1983 AstaLeva et al., 1993 Jones and Leroux, 1999). Amphiphilic copolymers form micellar structures through self-association of the insoluble segments when placed in a solvent that is selective for the other monomer (Kataoka et al., 1993 Jones and Leroux, 1999). The process of micellization for amphiphilic copolymers is similar to the process described for conventional hydrocarbon chain-based surfactants as described in the Lrst part of this chapter. 

The charged micelles give rise to strong local electrical fields in the solution, which will influence the distribution and motion of other ionic entities. The micelles also repel each other reducing the translational mobility. These electrostatic interactions influence the energetics of the micellization process substantially. This is seen from the comparatively high values of the CMC for ionic amphiphiles and by the fact that the addition of salt decreases the CMC. 

It is thus clear that a treatment of the micellization process of ionic amphiphiles must include a discussion of electrostatic effects. Furthermore, even for zwitterionic and nonionic surfactants, the electrostatic effects play a role. The favorable interaction between the polar groups of these amphiphiles and the solvent water is probably mainly of an electrostatic origin. 

CMCs of these polyfluorinated surfactants are of the order of 10 5 m.47 Plots of the observed H chemical shifts versus surfactant concentration of cetyl trimethyl ammonium chloride, cetyl pyridinium chloride, cetyl dimethyl phenyl ammonium chloride, cetyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, cetyl dimethy 1-2-phenyl ethyl ammonium chloride, and cetyl dimethyl-3-phenyl propyl ammonium chloride, are sigmoidal and were fitted to a model based on the mass action. The H chemical shift-based CMC values are in excellent agreement with those determined by the surface tension method.48 The micellization processes of dodecyl trimethyl ammonium halides (chloride and bromide) studied by calorimetric titration show different behaviors at 298 K. However, these disappear at 313 K, while the results measured by the chemical shift versus surfactant concentration do not show this difference.49 The CMC of 3-aminopropyl triethoxy silane in toluene is ca. 0.47m, measured by H and l3C chemical shifts.50 The CMC of optically active potassium A -n-dodecanoyl alaminate measured by H and l3C chemical shifts is lower (11-15 him) in D20 than that in a mixed solvent of 1,4-dioxane and D20 (19mM).-51 The H chemical shift shows that the CMC of resorcinol-type calix[4] phosphoric esters having four alkyl side-chains, [4]Ar 5P-R-n, is insensitive to the length of the side-chains, n.52 The CMC values of a family of surfactants, the sodium cyclohexyl alkanoates, with different lengths of the alkanoate side-chains, were obtained from 13C chemical-shift measurements. The results show that these amphiphiles have high CMCs (0.12-1.02 m).-53... 

In the second approach, metal-ion/complex was first attached to one of the polymer blocks. A thin film of the resulting polymer metal complex was then obtained by spin coating/solution casting. Alternatively, the polymer metal complex may also be dissolved in a suitable solvent system that selectively dissolves one of the blocks. Micelles or nanosized aggregates formed in this case. The micellization of amphiphilic block copolymers and their use in the formation of metal nanoparticles has been discussed previously.44 A monolayer of micelles was introduced on a substrate surface by dipping or electrostatic attraction. The substrate was then subjected to further chemical or physical treatments as mentioned earlier. The third approach involves the formation of micelles from the metal-free block copolymer in a suitable solvent system. The micelle solution was then added with metal ion, which was selectively coordinated to one of the blocks. These micelle-metal complexes can also be processed by a procedures similar to the second approach. 

The self-assembly process of non-ionic surfactants in aqueous media differs in several aspects from the micellization of amphiphilic copolymers ... 

An important factor controlling the mode of association of amphiphilic molecules in aqueous solution is the structure of the hydrophobic moiety. In typical surfactants the hydrophobic region is composed of a flexible hydrocarbon chain which can intertwine during the micellization process to form approximately spheroidal aggregates. Association commences at a critical concentration (the critical micelle concentration, cmc) and the micelles, which are generally composed of between 30-100 monomers, are of a narrow size distribution. In contrast, rigid planar aromatic molecules, such as the cationic dyes and the purine and pyrimidine bases of nucleosides can associate by a stacking process. 

When applied to the precipitation of amphiphilic block copolymers, the nanoprecipitation is often described in terms of self-assembling the precipitated particle is seen as a micelle, which is built by diffusion-limited aggregation of single molecules of the polymer [48]. Different from the usual micellization processes, which take place near the critical micelle concentration and are reversibile, in this case the operation takes place at much larger concentration and the resulting micelles are kinetically frozen... 

Amphiphilic block copolymers are polymers that can self-assemble into diverse structures in aqneons media above a critical micellization concentration (CMC) or critical aggregation concentration (CAC). Snch block copolymers contain hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments. The amphi-philicity of these block copolymers may be tnned by incorporating stimuli-responsive blocks, which allow a dynamic micellization process (Fig. 3.6). 

For the separation of amino acids, the applicability of this principle has been explored. For the separation of racemic phenylalanine, an amphiphilic amino acid derivative, 1-5-cholesteryl glutamate (14) has been used as a chiral co-surfactant in micelles of the nonionic surfactant Serdox NNP 10. Copper(II) ions are added for the formation of ternary complexes between phenylalanine and the amino acid cosurfactant. The basis for the separation is the difference in stability between the ternary complexes formed with d- or 1-phenylalanine, respectively. The basic principle of this process is shown in Fig. 5-17 [72]. 

A novel approach to RAFT emulsion polymerization has recently been reported.461529 In a first step, a water-soluble monomer (AA) was polymerized in the aqueous phase to a low degree of polymerization to form a macro RAFT agent. A hydrophobic monomer (BA) was then added under controlled feed to give amphiphilic oligomers that form micelles. These constitute a RAFT-containing seed. Continued controlled feed of hydrophobic monomer may be used to continue the emulsion polymerization. The process appears directly analogous to the self-stabilizing lattices approach previously used in macromonomer RAFT polymerization (Section 9.5.2). Both processes allow emulsion polymerization without added surfactant. 

The importance of the material exchange process can hardly be overemphasized since it is the mechanism whereby the equUibrium miceUar size and polydispersity are reached and maintained, the reversed micelles of ionic surfactants become charged, polar and amphiphilic solubilizates are transported, and hydrophilic reactants can come in... 

The different location of polar and amphiphilic molecules within water-containing reversed micelles is depicted in Figure 6. Polar solutes, by increasing the micellar core matter of spherical micelles, induce an increase in the micellar radius, while amphiphilic molecules, being preferentially solubihzed in the water/surfactant interface and consequently increasing the interfacial surface, lead to a decrease in the miceUar radius [49,136,137], These effects can easily be embodied in Eqs. (3) and (4), aUowing a quantitative evaluation of the mean micellar radius and number density of reversed miceUes in the presence of polar and amphiphilic solubilizates. Moreover it must be pointed out that, as a function of the specific distribution law of the solubihzate molecules and on a time scale shorter than that of the material exchange process, the system appears polydisperse and composed of empty and differently occupied reversed miceUes [136],... 

Photoinduced ET at liquid-liquid interfaces has been widely recognized as a model system for natural photosynthesis and heterogeneous photocatalysis [114-119]. One of the key aspects of photochemical reactions in these systems is that the efficiency of product separation can be enhanced by differences in solvation energy, diminishing the probability of a back electron-transfer process (see Fig. 11). For instance, Brugger and Gratzel reported that the efficiency of the photoreduction of the amphiphilic methyl viologen by Ru(bpy)3+ is effectively enhanced in the presence of cationic micelles formed by cetyltrimethylammonium chloride [120]. Flash photolysis studies indicated that while the kinetics of the photoinduced reaction,... 

The vesicles made from lipid bilayers are analogous to polymersomes, which are vesicles formed from high molecular weight amphiphilic block copolymers [94—96], Unlike the micelles discussed earlier from the similar copolymer components, the presence of bilayer walls formed from the aggregation of hydrophobic domains provides new properties. They can be designed to respond, for example, by opening or by disassembly, to external stimuli such as pH, heat, light, and redox processes [97]. This makes them usable as scaffolds for cascade reactions, even those with combinations of enzymes [98, 99]. 

Whenever amphiphilic block copolymer chains are dissolved at a fixed temperature and in a selective solvent for one of the blocks, they self-associate through a closed association process to form micelles similarly to low-MW surfactants. 

---