Hybrid Micellar Hydrogels of a Thermosensitive ABA Triblock Copolymer and Hairy Nanoparticles: Effect of Spatial Location of Hairy Nanoparticles on Gel Properties

This article reports a method for control of spatial location of nanoparticles (NPs) in hybrid micellar hydrogels of a thermosensitive ABA triblock copolymer and polymer brush-grafted NPs (hairy NPs), either inside or outside the core of micelles, and the study of the effect of different locations of NPs on gel properties. Two batches of thermosensitive polymer brush-grafted, 17 nm silica NPs with different lower critical solution temperatures (LCSTs) and a thermosensitive ABA triblock copolymer composed of a poly(ethylene oxide) central block and thermosensitive outer blocks (ABA-D) were synthesized. The different locations of NPs were achieved by controlling the LCST of hairy NPs (LCSTNP) relative to that of the thermosensitive outer blocks of ABA-D (LCSTABA). When the LCSTNP and LCSTABA were similar, the NPs resided in the core of micelles upon heating from below the LCSTNP and LCSTABA. When the LCSTNP was significantly higher, the NPs were located outside the core of micelles as confirmed by fluorescent resonance energy transfer. The effects of different locations of hairy NPs and NP-to-polymer mass ratio on properties of hybrid micellar hydrogels formed from aqueous solutions of ABA-D with a concentration of 10 wt % and various amounts of hairy NPs were studied by rheological measurements. The sol gel transition temperature (Tsol-gel) and dynamic storage modulus G' of the gels with NPs inside the core of micelles did not change much with increasing the NP-to-polymer mass ratio. In contrast, the Tsol-gel of gels with NPs in the interstitial space among micelles increased slightly and the G' decreased significantly with the increase of the NP-to-polymer ratio. The hairy NPs in the interstitial space appeared to affect the formation of polymer networks and increase the fraction of polymer loops, resulting in a lower density of bridging chains and thus a lower G'. In addition, for gels with NPs in the interstitial space, a noticeable increase in G' was observed in the heating ramps above 40 degrees C, which was likely caused by the collapsed hairy NPs adsorbing polymer chains in the dangling and loop forms, increasing the density of bridging chains.