Core-cross-linked polymer micelles via living polymerizations

This work reports a general synthesis to core-cross-linked polymer micelles directly from monomers by two typical living polymerizations, anionic polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization. The micelle concentrations are hundred times higher than those by traditional synthetic method using selective solvents. The morphologies of polymer micelles can be controlled to be spheres, fibers, and graft-like aggregates by varying the experimental conditions. Micelles with the same polymer in both the core and the shell have also been synthesized by this approach.