PI-PCEMA-PtBA

Liu and coworkers have investigated PI-PCEMA-PtBA triblock copolymers in which the central PCEMA block was cross-linked by UV irradi-... 

The first ABC triblock copolymer used by us to prepare nanotubes was polyzsoprene-fclock-poly(2-cinnamoyloxyethyl methacrylate)-fc/ock-poly(ferf-butyl acrylate) or PI-PCEMA-PtBA [19] ... 

Fig. 5 Steps invoked to prepare nanotubes from PI-PCEMA-PtBA...

Fig. 6 TEM image of PCEMA-PfBA nanotubes prepared from degradation of the PI core of PI-PCEMA-PtBA nanofibers...

For nanofibers and nanotubes, backbone modification refers to selective chemical transformation of one or more of the core blocks. In our preparation of nanotubes from the PI-PCEMA-PtBA and PS-PCEMA-PtBA triblock nanofibers, the core PI and PtBA blocks were sculpted away either fully or partially. These reactions are examples of nanofiber backbone modification. One can also consider inorganic reactions carried out inside one of the block copolymer phases to be a kind of backbone modification. These reactions lead to the formation of interesting polymer-inorganic hybrid nanostructures. This topic will be reviewed in the following paragraphs. 

Nanostructures like hollow tubes have attracted much attention mainly to meet the demand for smaller electronic devices. Tubes can be obtained using the sculpturing method. Liu and co-workers synthesized hollow nanotubes using triblock copolymers.The triblock copolymer poly(isoprene)-Z>/ocA -poly(2-cinnamoylethyl methacrylate)-Z)ZocA -poly(tert-bulyl aciylate) (PI-Z>-PCEMA-Z)-PtBA) containing 130 isoprene, 130 CEMA, and 800 fBA units formed self-assembled cylindrical micelles in methanol. 

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