Stimuli responsive amphiphilic block copolymers for aqueous media synthesised via reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerisation (RAFT)

A series of RAFT agents was synthesised, and used to prepare various ionic, non-ionic and zwitterionic water-soluble polymers, in organic as well as in aqueous media. The RAFT process proved to be a powerful method to prepare functional polymers of complex structure, such as amphiphilic diblock and triblock copolymers. This includes polymers containing one or even two stimuli-sensitive hydrophilic blocks. Switching the hydrophilic character of a single or of several blocks by changing the pH, the temperature or the salt content demonstrated the variability of the molecular designs suited for stimuli-sensitive polymeric amphiphiles, and exemplified the concept of multiple-sensitive systems.