Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Copolymers

Self-assembly behavior of amphiphilic copolymers was studied. As revealed by the self-consistent field theory results, in melt state the copolymers can self-associate into cylinder or lamellar structures depending on the architectural parameters, while in selective solvents, the copolymer are found to be able to self-assemble to a variety of microstructures, such as circle-like micelles, line-like micelles. It was also found experimentally that the polypeptide based copolymer could self-assemble to form polymeric micelles. The molecular structure and chain conformation of the polypeptide plays an important role in determining the micelle structures.