Kinetics and mechanisms of morphological transitions in block copolymer aggregates and sodium dodecyl sulfate as a morphogenic agent

The kinetic and mechanistic details involved in the morphological transitions occurring in aggregates prepared from the copolymer polystyrene-b-poly(acrylic acid) (PS-b-PAA) in dioxane-water mixtures and the ability of sodium dodecyl sulfate to induce architectural changes in these aggregates are described in this dissertation. The kinetics of the sphere-to-rod, rod-to-sphere, and vesicle-to-rod transitions were determined by following the change in the solution turbidity as a function of time after the transitions were induced by a sudden jump in one of the solvent components of the system. The kinetics of each transition was explored as a function of the initial solvent composition, the magnitude of the solvent content jump, and the initial polymer concentration. In another study, the amphiphile, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), was found to induce morphological transitions in the copolymer aggregates at lower water contents than those required in the absence of surfactant. The effect was studied as a function of SDS concentration, solvent composition, and copolymer concentration