The synthesis and assembly of linear-dendritic rod diblock copolymers

Dendrimers are three-dimensional, hyperbranched macromolecules that possess a uniform size and shape. Most dendrimers are spherical in shape; however, the shape of the dendrimer can be adjusting using the number and the position of the branching groups in the core. For example, dendritic rods have been prepared by assembling a dendron around each repeat unit of a linear polymer core, and hybrid-linear dendritic diblock copolymers have been prepared by attaching a dendron to the end functional group of a linear polymer. This linear block in the diblock copolymers also adds physical integrity and an assembly mechanism for arrangement of the polymer. Nonetheless, no one has combined the unique shape of the dendritic rod with that of the linear dendritic diblock copolymer. The objective of this research was to prepare a linear-dendritic rod diblock copolymer, and to examine its assembly behavior in solution, at the air/water interface, and in the bulk. These polymers consisted of a linear poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(ethylene imine) diblock copolymer around which poly(amido amine) branches were divergently synthesized. The dendritic branches were terminated with amine and ester groups, as well as alkyl chains of various lengths in order to "tune" the amphiphilic nature of the polymer.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Santini, Catherine Marie Bambenek, 1973-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Paula T. Hammond, T. Alan Hatton and Anne M. Mayes.

• Materials Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/29247

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/29247