Tunable Polymer Micelles as Template Directing Growth of MOFs Crystals in Surfactant-Free Emulsion to Fabricate Chitosan-Based Copolymer/ZIF-8 Nanostructure

Graphical The morphology of micelles in surfactant-free emulsion was regulated by adjusting the oil-water ratio and concentration of amphiphilic copolymer. Subsequently, polymer micelles served as templates to direct the assembly of ZIF-8 crystals in the surfactant-free emulsion to fabricate polymer/ZIF-8 composite materials (ZIF-8@CSP) with various structures. An amphiphilic chitosan-g-poly N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) methacrylamide (CS-g-PDMAPMA, CSP) was proposed and synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT), and further employed as emulsifier to construct a surfactant-free emulsion. The morphology of micelles in surfactant-free emulsion was regulated by adjusting the oil-water ratio and concentration of amphiphilic copolymer. Subsequently, polymer micelles served as templates to direct the assembly of ZIF-8 crystals in the surfactant-free emulsion to fabricate polymer/ZIF-8 composite materials (ZIF-8@CSP) with various structures. Specifically, ZIF-8@CSP with various architectures such as spheres, rods, cubes, leaf-shaped flakes, cross-flowers and wrinkled cubes were obtained by varying the concentration of CSP, the addition sequence of ZIF-8 precursors and the ratio of oil-water.