Conformation of amphiphilic 6-arm star block copolymers in solvent mixtures: Photophysical characterization

The conformation of amphiphilic 6-arm star block copolymers, with pyrene-tagged polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as the hydrophobic inner block attached to a 6-arm initiator and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) as the hydrophilic outer block, is studied. The conformation of micelles formed from star-like copolymers depends on the selective solvent and can be detected with pyrene probe fluorescence. Concentration dependence studies of polymer in a specific solution indicate the aggregation of star block copolymers and the shift of the polymer concentration at which the excimer intensity is minimized is detected.