Uniform, High Aspect Ratio Fiber-like Micelles and Block Co-micelles with a Crystalline π‑Conjugated Polythiophene Core by Self-Seeding

• Published in: Journal of the American Chemical Society Vol. 136; no. 11; pp. 4121 - 4124
• Main Authors: Qian, Jieshu, Li, Xiaoyu, Lunn, David J, Gwyther, Jessica, Hudson, Zachary M, Kynaston, Emily, Rupar, Paul A, Winnik, Mitchell A, Manners, Ian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 19.03.2014
• ISSN: 0002-7863; 1520-5126
• DOI: 10.1021/ja500661k

Monodisperse fiber-like micelles with a crystalline π-conjugated poly­thiophene core with lengths up to ca. 700 nm were successfully prepared from the diblock co­polymer poly­(3-hexyl­thiophene)-block-poly­styrene using a one-dimensional self-seeding technique. Addition of a poly­thiophene block co­polymer with a different corona-forming block to the resulting nanofibers led to the formation of segmented B-A-B triblock co-micelles by crystallization-driven seeded growth. The key to these advances appears to be the formation of a relatively defect-free crystalline micelle core under the self-seeding conditions.