Polystyrene–poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymers micelles in water

Abstract.

Micellization in water of polystyrene–poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymers is achieved by the stepwise dialysis technique in order to prepare micellar solutions for copolymers with a wide range of molecular parameters. Hydrodynamic radii, determined by quasielastic light scattering, are correlated with the molecular parameters, e.g. molecular weight and composition, and compared with the theory. Two couples of phenanthrene and anthracene labelled copolymers are used to prepare micellar solutions by mixing them before and after dialysis. The non radiative energy transfer is determined on these solutions to prove that polystyrene-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymers micelles in water are "frozen" micelles even when heated near the Tg of polystyrene.