Polyacrylamide-Based Block Copolymer Bearing Pyridine Groups Shows Unexpected Salt-Induced LCST Behavior

Yunyun Tu; Dandan Fang; Wanli Zhan; Zengming Wei; Liming Yang; Penghui Shao; Xubiao Luo; Guang Yang

doi:10.3390/molecules28072921

Polyacrylamide-Based Block Copolymer Bearing Pyridine Groups Shows Unexpected Salt-Induced LCST Behavior

Molecules. 2023 Mar 24;28(7):2921. doi: 10.3390/molecules28072921.

Authors

Yunyun Tu¹, Dandan Fang², Wanli Zhan², Zengming Wei², Liming Yang¹, Penghui Shao¹, Xubiao Luo¹, Guang Yang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Jiangxi Province for Persistent Pollutants Control and Resources Recycle, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063, China.
² Biomass Molecular Engineering Center, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.

Abstract

Thermal-responsive block copolymers are a special type of macromolecule that exhibit a wide range of applications in various fields. In this contribution, we report a new type of polyacrylamide-based block copolymer bearing pyridine groups of polyethylene glycol-block-poly(N-(2-methylpyridine)-acrylamide; Px) that display distinct salt-induced lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior. Unexpectedly, the phase-transition mechanism of the salt-induced LCST behavior of Px block copolymers is different from that of the reported LCST-featured analogues. Moreover, their thermo-responsive behavior can be significantly regulated by several parameters such as salt species and concentration, urea, polymerization degree, polymer concentration and pH values. This unique thermal behavior of pyridine-containing block copolymers provides a new avenue for the fabrication of smart polymer materials with potential applications in biomedicine.

Keywords: LCST; block-copolymer; nanomaterial; self-assembly; thermo-responsive.

Grants and funding

The authors acknowledge open funding from Key Laboratory of Jiangxi Province for Persistent Pollutants Control and Resources Recycle (No. ES202080079), as well as the support of undergraduate student research project 202210364021.