Hydroxyethyl Acrylate-Based Polymeric Amphiphiles Showing Lower Critical Solution Temperature

초록

Poly(2-hydroxyethyl acrylate-co-methylmethacrylate) (P(HEA-MMA)) and poly(2-hydroxyethyl acrylate-co-butylmethacrylate) (P(HEA-BMA)) were prepared as thermo-sensitive amphiphilic polymers. When HEA was copolymerized with MMA so that MMA content was 2.1% (mol/mol), the optical density of P(HEA-MMA) solution began to increase around 37 degrees C. The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) decreased as the MMA content increased. When HEA was copolymerized with BMA so that BMA content was 2.2%, P(HEA-BMA) exhibited its LCST around 37 degrees C, and the LCST also decreased with increasing the BMA content. BMA was more effective than MMA in promoting the thermally-induced collapse of polymer chains. As the content of the hydrophobic co-monomers increased, the air/water interfacial tension increased. The mean diameter of the micelle of P(HEA-MMA)s and that of the micelle of P(HEA-BMA)s changed in a fluctuated and temperature-dependent manner. On TEM photos, no marked difference was found in the size and the shape between P(HEA-MMA) micelles and P(HEA-BMA) ones.

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