Fern-Leaf Morphology Formed from an Amphiphilic Polycation Block Copolymer in the Presence of Sodium Chloride

Abstract

An unsymmetric diblock copolymer b-Q57A97 of (ar‑vinylbenzyl)trimethylammonium chloride (Q) and N,N-dimethylvinylbenzylamine (A), synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer radical polymerization, and its molecular assemblies were characterized by static and dynamic light scattering and steady state fluorescence using N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine (PNA) as a probe. Scanning electron microscopy observations indicated that b-Q57A97 formed a unique fern leaf-like morphology in the presence of NaCl.