Self-Assembly of Gel-Like Particles and Vesicles in Solutions of Polymers with Amphiphilic Repeat Unit

The features of self-assembly of amphiphilic homopolymers with solvophobic backbone and solvophilic pendant groups in dilute solutions have been studied by means of mesoscale computer simulation. It has been found that spherical, cylindric, disk-like, and multilayer vesicles can be formed in such systems, the transitions between them occurring with the change in the solvent quality with respect to the solvophilic pendant groups. Amphiphilic homopolymers can also form worm-shaped branched aggregates with gel-like structure. The obtained data have been compared to the earlier results [Macromolecules, 53 (2020) 4783-4795] for the solutions of amphiphilic homopolymers with solvophilic backbone and solvophobic pendant groups; principal difference in the self-assembly of two types of macromolecules has been revealed.