Spontaneous vesicle formation of polymeric borate ester surfactant

Using azobis (iso-butyro) nitrile (AIBN) as the initiator, a novel vesicle from polymric borate ester (PMBE) surfactant was prepared by direct polymerization of N-hydroxymethyl acrylamide, triethyl borate and N,N-dihydroxyethyl dodecylamine. The PMBE was characterized by FTIR, H-1 NMR and GPC. The self-aggregate morphologies of PMBE in pure water and 0.1 mol/L NaCl solution were observed by TEM. The results show that the vesicle was formed spontaneously from PMBE both in water and NaCl aqueous solution. The diameter of PMBE vesicle is about 20 nm in pure wate. In 0.1 mol/L NaCl solution, the diameter increases to the range from 150 mn to 250 nm. The mechanism of PMBE vesicle formation was discussed preliminarily by packing parameter theory of amphiphilic molecules and approximate processing method.