Effect of temperature-responsive solution behavior of PNIPAM-b-PPEOMA-b-PNIPAM on its inclusion complexation with α-cyclodextrin

The effect of temperature-responsive solution behavior of PNIPAM- b -PPEOMA- b -PNIPAM on its inclusion complexation with α -cyclodextrin was studied. The triblock polymer was prepared by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and formed inclusion complexes (ICs) after selective threading of the PEO segment of the triblock polymer through the cavities of α -CD units. For comparison, PPEOMA homopolymer was prepared and the inclusion complexation with α -CD was also studied. The ICs were prepared with α -CD when the polymer was in different conformations by changing the temperature, and the formed ICs were characterized by XRD, 1 H-NMR, TGA and DSC. The solutions of the ICs show temperature-responsive clear/turbid transition or fluidic emulsion/gel transition depending on the concentration of the α -CD added, and the stoichiometry determined by 1 H-NMR and TGA indicates that the stoichiometry of EO to α -CD of the resulted ICs increases with increasing of temperature.