Forcing single-chain nanoparticle collapse through hydrophobic solvent interactions in comb copolymers

Cheyenne H. Liu, Logan D. Dugas, Jared I. Bowman, Tamuka Chidanguro, Robson F. Storey, Yoan C. Simon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

We introduce a novel synthetic strategy in which high molecular weight comb copolymers with aliphatic side chains can collapse into single-chain nanoparticles (SNCPs) via photodimerization of anthracene under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. By deliberately selecting hydrophobic comonomers with disparate solvency, we demonstrated that we could control chain collapse. We attribute these results to the formation of pseudo-unimicellar structures, whereby polyisobutylene (PIB) side chains are preferentially solvated, thereby compressing anthracene moieties to form a denser crosslinked core. The control of hydrophobic interactions is a common occurrence in proteins and we believe that our approach can be further extended to achieve multi-compartment SCNPs whereby each section is responsible for a given function.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)292-297
Number of pages6
JournalPolymer Chemistry
Volume11
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 14 2020
Externally publishedYes

Funding

C. H. L. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation Research Trainee (NSF NRT) Program Award #1449999. The authors acknowledge support from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF) grant #57957. This material is based on work in part supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (1757220). The authors would like to acknowledge the help of Eric R. King and Dr. Dwaine Braasch for their assistance in running the UV-vis instrumentation.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Forcing single-chain nanoparticle collapse through hydrophobic solvent interactions in comb copolymers'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this