| dc.description.abstract | Polymer self-assembly and co-assembly have emerged as a powerful platform for the fabrication of functional nanomaterials. This dissertation research focuses on the self assembly of degradable and functional glucose-derived polymers with high structural tailorability and complexity, as well as their co-assembly with magnetic inorganic nanoparticles towards biomedical and environmental applications.
Topological parameters in macromolecules, e.g., architectures, side chain and backbone lengths, and chemical constituents, have been demonstrated to be crucial in the construction of supramolecular assemblies. Therefore, a series of amphiphilic diblock copolymers were designed and synthesized with varied architectures, chemical compositions, side chain and backbone lengths. Corresponding nanostructures with different morphologies and sizes were afforded through a solvent-exchange self-assembly process. It is found that the transition in the nanoscopic features of those nanostructures, i.e. morphology and size, is mostly governed by variation in the volume fraction of amphiphilic polymers.
In order to better understand the effect of fundamental molecular parameters on the supramolecular assembly of specific amphiphilic block copolymers, coil-brush block copolymer was selected as an intriguing candidate in the bottlebrush polymer family, due to its unique structure comprising of both rigid brush segments and flexible linear segments. Thus, experimental and computational self-assembly of coil-brush copolymers were studied, and found to generate two phase diagrams with a remarkable qualitative agreement, in terms of the structurally-dependent morphologies.
There has been growing interest in the fabrication of functional nanomaterials by self-assembly and co-assembly of polymers. Well-defined micellar nanocomposites prepared by hybridization of glucose-derived polycarbonates and magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles have been developed to address the crude oil contamination in aquatic environment. This functional nanomaterial is designed as a recyclable nanoscopic carrier of hydrophobic pollutants, and also able to degrade into environmentally benign small molecules in the long term.
Fundamental study of self-assembly and co-assembly behavior of amphiphilic polymers and their applications in functional material design have been discussed in this dissertation, suggesting a great potential in incorporation of various functions in nanomaterials by modification of polymer compositions and structures in a creative way. | en |
