Abstract
This review focuses on the self-organization of novel amphiphilic polymers prepared by relatively simple synthetic techniques including free-radically initiated random copolymerization of hydrophilic and hydrophobic monomers and chemical modification of water-soluble polymers with functional hydrophobic molecules. These polymers exhibit various types of self-organization in aqueous solution due to intra- and/or interpolymer hydrophobic associations depending on the chemical structure of the polymers. Structural factors that affect the self-organization behavior include the type and content of hydrophobes contained in the polymers, distribution of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic units within a polymer chain, and spacer bond between the hydrophobe and the polymer chain. Various types of micelles are formed as a result of various modes of the self-organization. The relationship between the polymer structure and the micellar structure is discussed.
