Temperature induced multiple structure transformation and aggregation behaviors of amphiphilic acrylicpimaric acid polyglycol ester in water

In this work, amphiphilic acrylicpimaric acid polyglycol ester (APAPG) was synthesized by steglich esterification method. The structure transformation and aggregation behaviors of APAPG in water were investigated by Rayleigh light scattering (RLS) technique in a heating and cooling cycle. For concentration above critical micelle concentration (CMC), a reversible transition from micelle to aggregation was observed. The structure transformation process involved irreversible aggregation and disaggregation processes at low temperature and a reversible aggregation process at high temperature when the concentration closed to CMC. Accordingly, the information about each structure transformation behavior in the concentration far below CMC during heating process including individual unimers, aggregation and disaggregation were thoroughly revealed. However, the structure transformation behavior is irreversible in the cooling process. The structure transformation and aggregation behaviors were assessed by dynamic light scattering (DLS), microcalorimetry and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The results indicate that the RLS technique can provide detailed information about structural evolution at molecular level of polymer chains.