Different inorganic salts, including NaSCN, NaCl, MgCl2 and Na2SO4, were added into the aqueous solution containing poly(ε-caprolactone)-b-poly(ethylene oxide)(PCL-b-PEO) semicrystalline micelles. The effects of inorganic salt on the micellar size and morphology were investigated with TEM and DLS. It is found that addition of NaSCN leads to increase of the micellar size, but the micelles remain to be spherical. By contrast, the other three inorganic salts can induce sphere-to-cylinder or sphere-to-lamella transformations of the PCL-b-PEO semicrystalline micelles. The alteration rate of the micellar size with the time after addition of the inorganic salts decreases in the following order: Na2SO4 > NaCl ≈ MgCl2 > NaSCN. These results were interpreted in terms of the "salting-out" ability of the cations and anions. The anions SO42- and Cl- have a stronger "salting-out" ability, driving the morphological transformations of the micelles and leading to a rapid change in micellar size. By contrast, SCN- has a weaker salting-out" ability. The cations Na+ and Mg2+ may associate with the PEO blocks, leading to a "salting-out" effect as well. However, the "salting-out" ability of cations is weaker than that of SO42- and Cl- anions, and the "salting-out" abilities of Na+ and Mg2+ are similar.
