Electrochemical redox responsive polymeric micelles formed from amphiphilic supramolecular brushes†
Abstract
The end-decorated homopolymer poly(ε-caprolactone)-ferrocene threaded onto a β-cyclodextrin-functionalized main-chain polymer can form a class of amphiphilic noncovalent graft copolymers based on the host–guest interactions of the terminal groups on the side chains. These new supramolecular polymer brushes can further self-assemble into micellar aggregates that exhibit reversible assembly and disassembly behavior under an electrochemical redox trigger, which opens up a new route to building dynamic block copolymer topologies.