Abstract
A new PEG2000-b-PFPE1200-b-PEG2000 amphiphilic triblock copolymer was synthesized by copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne–azide cycloaddition (CuAAC). The microstructure of this ABA triblock copolymer wasunequivocally characterized by NMR spectroscopy. Diffusion-ordered spectroscopy (DOSY) NMR experimentrevealed that 1H resonances belonging to PEG and PFPE are aligned on the same horizontal line,thus implying that all these signals are due to the same macromolecule whose diffusion coefficient islower than that of PEG and PFPE homopolymers. Thanks to its semi-fluorinated backbone bearing robusttriazole rings, the PEG2000-b-PFPE1200-b-PEG2000 triblock copolymer exhibits good thermal stability withno significant weight loss until 275 °C under air. This triblock copolymer undergoes self-assembly intomicelles (D = 10–20 nm) in aqueous solution as confirmed from cryogenic-temperature transmissionelectron microscopy, DOSY experiment in D2O, and dynamic light scattering. The critical micelle concentrationwas determined by pyrene fluorescence assay, and was found to be 0.1 mg mL−1.