MESOSCALE SIMULATION ON SELF-ASSEMBLING BEHAVIOR OF POLY(ETHYLENE OXIDE)-POLY (PROPYLENE OXIDE)-POLY (ETHYLENE OXIDE) TRIBLOCK COPOLYMER MICELLE

Mantana  Chansuna; Visit  Vao-soongnern; Nuttaporn  Pimpha

Authors

Mantana Chansuna Laboratory of Computational and Applied Polymer Science (LCAPS), School of Chemistry, Institute of Science, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand.
Visit Vao-soongnern Laboratory of Computational and Applied Polymer Science (LCAPS), School of Chemistry, Institute of Science, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand.
Nuttaporn Pimpha Thailand National Science and Technology Development Agency, National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTECH), 130 Thailand Science Park, Paholyothin Rd., Klong Luang Pathumthani 12120 , Thailand.

Keywords:

Triblock copolymer, polymer micelle, mesoscale simulation

Abstract

The aggregation and phase behavior of a Poly (ethylene oxide)-Poly (propylene oxide)-Poly (ethyleneoxide), (PEO-PPO-PEO) triblock copolymer model was investigated by field-based mesoscale simulation (MesoDyn). The effects of the propylene oxide/ ethylene oxide (PPO/PEO) block ratio, copolymer concentrations, and adding a hydrophobic drug moleculeon the morphology of the polymer aggregation were studied. The results show that with increasing the polymer concentration, polymer aggregations of different types were obtained i.e. spherical micelle, disk-like micelle, worm-like micelle, and biphase. For a higher PPO/PEO block ratio, a lower critical micelle concentration (cmc) and larger micelle size were observed. Adding the hydrophobic drug i.e. haloperidol into the solution induced the spherical micelle to form more easily and the micelle sizeto become larger. Haloperidol was located at the interface between the PEO and PPO components.

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