Morphology and Emulsification of Poly(-2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl pyrrolidone)--poly(benzyl methacrylate) Assemblies by Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly.

In this work, a series of amphiphilic diblock copolymers poly(-2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl pyrrolidone)--poly(benzyl methacrylate) (PNMP --PBzMA ) were developed by the dispersion polymerization method in ethanol. The polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) behaviors were studied systematically, and a comprehensive structure-property relationship was also established. Two distinct PISA tendencies were observed, which was mainly depended on the polymerization degree of PNMP segment. When is small such as 39 and 55, morphological transitions from spherical to vesicle-like assemblies via wormlike ones upon increasing commonly happen regardless of the solid content. Alternatively, spherical assemblies became the sole morphology for PNMP--PBzMA block copolymers because of the excellent solvophilicity of the PNMP segment. Attributing to the amphiphilicity of PNMP --PBzMA block copolymers, PNMP --PBzMA assemblies by PISA are a type of excellent Pickering emulsifiers. These assemblies prefer to stabilize O/W Pickering emulsions as confirmed by the confocal laser scanning microscopy method, and the effects of polymerization degree of PBzMA segment or morphologies of PNMP --PBzMA assemblies are finite.