Dynamics of poly((dimethylamino)alkyl methacrylate-block-sodium methacrylate) micelles. Influence of hydrophobicity and molecular architecture on the exchange rate of copolymer molecules

The dynamic stability of the micellar aggregates formed by amphiphilic block copolymers, i.e., poly((dimethylamino)alkyl methacrylate-b-sodium methacrylate), has been investigated by steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy and size exclusion chromatography. The dynamics of exchange of block copolymer molecules between the micelles, formed in aqueous solution, depend on a manifold of factors, e.g., alkyl substituent in the hydrophobic block, the relation between the hydrophobic and hydrophilic blocks, and the architecture of the block copolymer. All copolymers investigated show a slow unimer exchange with an exchange rate constant on the order of 10(-3) s(-1), with a difference of a factor of 20 between the fastest and the slowest exchange. It is possible to tune the exchange rate in a controlled way; for instance, an extension or branching of the alkyl chain slows down the exchange rate. The same effect is observed when the hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance of these copolymers is increased or when either the hydrophilic or the hydrophobic moiety of diblocks is divided into two external blocks, leading to a triblock copolymer.