Small angle neutron scattering study of deuterated sodium dodecylsulfate micellization in dilute poly((2–dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) solutions

Poly((2–dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) with 60,000 g/mol and a narrow polydispersity (1.12) was synthesized using group transfer polymerization in order to investigate the structure of poly((2–dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)/sodium dodecylsufate complexes in water. The synthesized polymer chain conformation in water was studied as a function of deuterated sodium dodecylsulfate concentration using small angle neutron scattering. We found three transitions of the poly((2–dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) chain conformation induced by the added deuterated sodium dodecylsulfate. The transitions resulted from interactions between the polymer and the surfactant, so that micelles are formed along the polymer backbone above the critical aggregation concentration. The structure of micelles in a poly((2–dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)/deuterated sodium dodecylsulfate solution was analyzed through model fitting of the small angle neutron scattering data measured at the condition where the poly((2–dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) was contrast-matched with a mixture of 80% H2O and 20% D2O.