Amphiphilic polymers for aggregation-induced emission at air/liquid interfaces

Pablo G Argudo; Nian Zhang; Hui Chen; Gustavo de Miguel; María T Martín-Romero; Luis Camacho; Min-Hui Li; Juan J Giner-Casares

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.03.049

Amphiphilic polymers for aggregation-induced emission at air/liquid interfaces

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Aug 15:596:324-331. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.03.049. Epub 2021 Mar 16.

Authors

Pablo G Argudo¹, Nian Zhang², Hui Chen³, Gustavo de Miguel¹, María T Martín-Romero¹, Luis Camacho¹, Min-Hui Li⁴, Juan J Giner-Casares⁵

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Química Física y T. Aplicada, Instituto Universitario de Nanoquímica IUNAN, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Córdoba (UCO), Campus de Rabanales, Ed. Marie Curie, E-14071 Córdoba, Spain.
² Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 100029 Beijing, China; Chimie ParisTech, PSL University Paris, CNRS, Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris-UMR8247, 11 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, Paris, France.
³ Chimie ParisTech, PSL University Paris, CNRS, Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris-UMR8247, 11 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, Paris, France.
⁴ Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 100029 Beijing, China; Chimie ParisTech, PSL University Paris, CNRS, Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris-UMR8247, 11 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, Paris, France. Electronic address: min-hui.li@chimieparistech.psl.eu.
⁵ Departamento de Química Física y T. Aplicada, Instituto Universitario de Nanoquímica IUNAN, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Córdoba (UCO), Campus de Rabanales, Ed. Marie Curie, E-14071 Córdoba, Spain. Electronic address: jjginer@uco.es.

PMID: 33839357
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.03.049

Abstract

Polymersomes and related self-assembled nanostructures displaying Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) are highly relevant for plenty of applications in imaging, biology and functional devices. Experimentally simple, scalable and universal strategies for on-demand self-assembly of polymers rendering well-defined nanostructures are highly desirable. A purposefully designed combination of amphiphilic block copolymers including tunable lengths of hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG_m) and hydrophobic AIE polymer poly(tetraphenylethylene-trimethylenecarbonate) (P(TPE-TMC)_n) has been studied at the air/liquid interface. The unique 2D assembly properties have been analyzed by thermodynamic measurements, UV-vis reflection spectroscopy and photoluminescence in combination with molecular dynamics simulations. The (PEG)_m-b-P(TPE-TMC)_n monolayers formed tunable 2D nanostructures self-assembled on demand by adjusting the available surface area. Tuning of the PEG length allows to modification of the area per polymer molecule at the air/liquid interface. Molecular detail on the arrangement of the polymer molecules and relevant molecular interactions has been convincingly described. AIE fluorescence at the air/liquid interface has been successfully achieved by the (PEG)_m-b-P(TPE-TMC)_n nanostructures. An experimentally simple 2D to 3D transition allowed to obtain 3D polymersomes in solution. This work suggests that engineered amphiphilic polymers for AIE may be suitable for selective 2D and 3D self-assembly for imaging and technological applications.