Amphiphilic diblock copolymers are composed of hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. When they are exposed to water, the hydrophobic blocks aggregate to form a hydrophobic core surrounded by hydrophilic regions outside to give a core-shell micelle. These micelles have many potential applications, such as a drug delivery system, surfactants, or nanoreactor. Many studies have been done to optimize the performance of these copolymers. In this thesis work, nine dual temperature- and pH-responsive poly(acrylic acid-block-N-isopropylacrylamide) (PAA-b-PNIPAM) diblock copolymers with different relative chain lengths of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic blocks were synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The preliminary results showed high conversion values for all products. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopies were used to study the selfassembly of synthesized copolymers in aqueous solution and measure the lower critical solution temperatures. Results clearly showed the occurrence of micellization for all copolymers.
","abstract_html":"<p>Amphiphilic diblock copolymers are composed of hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. When they are exposed to water, the hydrophobic blocks aggregate to form a hydrophobic core surrounded by hydrophilic regions outside to give a core-shell micelle. These micelles have many potential applications, such as a drug delivery system, surfactants, or nanoreactor. Many studies have been done to optimize the performance of these copolymers. In this thesis work, nine dual temperature- and pH-responsive poly(acrylic acid-block-N-isopropylacrylamide) (PAA-b-PNIPAM) diblock copolymers with different relative chain lengths of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic blocks were synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The preliminary results showed high conversion values for all products. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopies were used to study the selfassembly of synthesized copolymers in aqueous solution and measure the lower critical solution temperatures. Results clearly showed the occurrence of micellization for all copolymers.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Zarshenas Moghadam, Ehsan"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Chemistry","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Gregg Wilmes, Ph.D.","Donald Snyder, Ph.D.","Cory Emal, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:33Z","subjects":["Block copolymer","Polymeric Micelle","RAFT polymerization","Self-assembled","Smart polymer","Stimuli responsive","Polymer Chemistry"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/997","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Gregg Wilmes, Ph.D.","Donald Snyder, Ph.D.","Cory Emal, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Zarshenas Moghadam, Ehsan"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-02-26T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Chemistry"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Block copolymer","Polymeric Micelle","RAFT polymerization","Self-assembled","Smart polymer","Stimuli responsive","Polymer Chemistry"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/997"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Amphiphilic diblock copolymers are composed of hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. When they are exposed to water, the hydrophobic blocks aggregate to form a hydrophobic core surrounded by hydrophilic regions outside to give a core-shell micelle. These micelles have many potential applications, such as a drug delivery system, surfactants, or nanoreactor. Many studies have been done to optimize the performance of these copolymers. In this thesis work, nine dual temperature- and pH-responsive poly(acrylic acid-block-N-isopropylacrylamide) (PAA-b-PNIPAM) diblock copolymers with different relative chain lengths of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic blocks were synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The preliminary results showed high conversion values for all products. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopies were used to study the selfassembly of synthesized copolymers in aqueous solution and measure the lower critical solution temperatures. Results clearly showed the occurrence of micellization for all copolymers.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Synthesis and study of the micellization behavior of a dual temperature- and pH-responsive PAA-b-PNIPAM block copolymer"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Gregg Wilmes, Ph.D.","Donald Snyder, Ph.D.","Cory Emal, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Zarshenas Moghadam, Ehsan"],"dc:date.available":["2020-02-26T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Amphiphilic diblock copolymers are composed of hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. When they are exposed to water, the hydrophobic blocks aggregate to form a hydrophobic core surrounded by hydrophilic regions outside to give a core-shell micelle. These micelles have many potential applications, such as a drug delivery system, surfactants, or nanoreactor. Many studies have been done to optimize the performance of these copolymers. In this thesis work, nine dual temperature- and pH-responsive poly(acrylic acid-block-N-isopropylacrylamide) (PAA-b-PNIPAM) diblock copolymers with different relative chain lengths of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic blocks were synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The preliminary results showed high conversion values for all products. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopies were used to study the selfassembly of synthesized copolymers in aqueous solution and measure the lower critical solution temperatures. Results clearly showed the occurrence of micellization for all copolymers.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/997"],"dc:subject":["Block copolymer","Polymeric Micelle","RAFT polymerization","Self-assembled","Smart polymer","Stimuli responsive","Polymer Chemistry"],"dc:title":["Synthesis and study of the micellization behavior of a dual temperature- and pH-responsive PAA-b-PNIPAM block copolymer"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Chemistry"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:33Z"}