Synthesis and self-assembly of thermoresponsive PEG-b-PNIPAM-b-PCL ABC triblock copolymer through the combination of atom transfer radical polymerization, ring-opening polymerization, and click chemistry.

A well-defined thermoresponsive poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-block-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PEG(43)-b-PNIPAM(82)-b-PCL(87)) triblock copolymer was synthesized by combination of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), ring-opening polymerization (ROP), and click chemistry. The synthesis included the four steps, and all the structures of the polymers were determined. The thermoresponsive triblock copolymer can disperse in water at room temperature to form core-shell-corona micelles with the hydrophobic PCL block as core, the thermoresponsive PNIPAM block as shell, and the hydrophilic PEG block as corona. At temperatures above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the PNIPAM block, the PNIPAM chains gradually collapse on the PCL core to shrink the size and change the structure of the resultant core-shell-corona micelles with temperature increasing.