Synthesis and micellar characterization of novel pH-sensitive thiol-ended triblock copolymer via combination of RAFT and ROP processes

A new pH- sensitive thiol-ended amphiphilic triblock copolymer was synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) value for the synthesized PAA-b-PDMAEMAQ-b-PCL-SH triblock copolymer was determined to be 0.0079 g L-1 using fluorescence probe technique. The average sizes of PAA-b-PDMAEMAQ-b-PCL-SH micelles was obtained to be 30 +/- 5 nm using TEM observation. It is expected that the synthesized PAA-b-PDMAEMAQ-b-PCL-SH triblock copolymer considered as a prospective candidate in nanomedicine applications such as chemo-photothermal therapy and drug delivery, mainly due to the strong affinity of thiol-ended group toward gold nanoparticle and its excellent micellization behavior.