Hierarchical self-assembly of Y-shaped amphiphilic triblock polyurethane/poly(acrylic acid) complexes: Giant vesicles, vesicles, 3D network, and bulk structures

A simple and effective approach to induce hierarchical self-assembly of Y-shaped amphiphilic triblock polyurethane/poly(acrylic acid) complexes system in aqueous media is reported here. Hydrogen bonding interactions and electrostatic repulsive forces, which can be controlled by regulating the pH condition of complexes solution, were the main driving forces to induce morphological transitions. With the gradual decrease of pH value, a variety of micro-/nanostructures including giant vesicles, small vesicles, multi-layer three-dimensional (3D) porous network structures and “bulk” structures were successively obtained. Among these structures, the micron-scale multi-layer 3D porous network structure formed from block copolymer/homopolymer complexes was rarely reported. Therefore, this research demonstrates that the hierarchical self-assembly of polymers complexes in aqueous media is a viable approach to construct different interesting micro-/nanostructure assemblies, and supplies a new clue for the fabrication of multi-layer 3D porous network structures. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135 , 46503.