Amphiphilic Polymer Structure Confers Function for Formulation Engineering

Amphiphilic polymers, encompassing synthetic block and graft copolymers and polymers of biological origin such as polysaccharides and proteins, exhibit an innate ability to organize from the nanoscale across to the mesoscale, in the bulk and on surfaces. Such structuring leads to function, and thus amphiphilic polymers find applications in diverse formulated products. The solvent, typically water, and the additives present therein, e.g., glycols, salts, particles, provide valuable degrees of freedom for controlling the morphology and, hence, structure/property relationships. Furthermore, solvents and particles or surfaces can dramatically affect the molecular mobility and the dynamics of structural transformations.

The presentation will utilize principles of polymer organization in solution and on surfaces to highlight examples of (i) how polymer solution association and surface adsorption can be modulated by the polymer chemistry, solvent additives, and/or surface properties, and (ii) how the resulting structure can lead to beneficial function for formulations. Amphiphilic polymers of the poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide) type and those resulting from polymer-surfactant complexation will be used as case studies. The polymer self-assembled structure in the bulk solution will be related to that on surfaces.