Design and stabilization of block copolymer micelles via phenol–pyridine hydrogen-bonding interactions

A new approach for the preparation of block copolymer micelles in non-selective solvent is introduced. Phenol–pyridine hydrogen-bonding interactions are used for the first time to prepare core–shell micelles in non-selective solvents using block copolymers and bifunctional low-molecular-weight hydrogen-bonding crosslinkers. Poly(styrene-b-4-vinylphenol)/Bis-pyridyl ethane and poly(styrene-b-4-vinylpyridine)/Bisphenol A were investigated as micelle formation due to phenol–pyridine hydrogen bond crosslinking. The influence of several factors such as temperature, concentration, solvent and pH in micellization–demicellization process was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This method opens new possibilities to the generation of block copolymer micelles in non-selective solvents.