Cavitation-enabled rapid and tunable evolution of high-χN micelles as templates for ordered mesoporous oxides

Nanoscale. 2017 Jan 26;9(4):1393-1397. doi: 10.1039/c6nr07313a.

Abstract

The kinetic-entrapment of block copolymer micelles enables size-persistence, however tuning micelle sizes under such conditions remains challenging. Agitation-induced chain exchange via vortexing is limited by the production of solution-air interfaces. Here, we use ultrasonic cavitation for rapid interface production that accelerates micelle growth by an order of magnitude over vortexing.