Author(s)

Xinshu Huang, Zhen Liu, Xiaohua He^*

School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.

Well-defined P4VP-b-PBLG diblock polymer composed of poly (4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) and poly (γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PBLG) was synthesized by click reaction with alkyne- and azide-functionalized homopolymers. Besides, P4VP blocks were synthesized by copper-mediated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) with a chlorine-containing alkyne bifunctional initiator, and the azido-terminated PBLG homopolymers were synthesized by ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of γ-benzyl-L-glutamate with an amine-containing azide initiator. In addition, the synthesized P4VP-b-PBLG with different block ratios has been characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR), Gel permeation chromatograph (GPC) and fourier transform infrated spectroscopy (FT-IR). Then, the self-assembly behaviors of P4VP-b-PBLG have been studied by changing parameters like dripping speed and block ratio. The morphologies of self-assembly of spherical, disk-like and ellipsoid-like shape particles have been observed and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). These results have provided guidelines for the design of macromolecular self-assembly.

Self-Assembly, Poly (4-Vinylpyridine), Polypeptide, Diblock Copolymer

Huang, X. , Liu, Z. and He, X. (2019) Synthesis of P4VP-b-PBLG Diblock Copolymers and Their Self-Assembly Behavior. Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, 7, 56-64. doi: 10.4236/msce.2019.73005.