• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.2187-2192
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• 2012

This study presents a facile way synthesizing disc-like lipid bilyaer nanostructures with a cationic amphiphilic polyelectrolyte. The cationic amphiphilic polyelectrolyte was in a form of partially quarternized copolymer and was synthesized with 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate and stearyl methacrylate. At some concentration ranges of the polymer, the addition of the polymer to lipid components during the preparation of bilayer nanostructures resulted in discs with a fairly high yield (~99%). The mechanism for the formation of the nanostructures was discussed based on the physical properties of these nanostructures and by comparing the nanostructures obtained with an anionic amphiphilic polyelectrolyte.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.498-505
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• 2007

This study demonstrated the in-situ functionalization with polymers of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) via emulsion polymerization. Polystyrene-functionalized MWNTs were prepared in an aqueous solution containing styrene monomer, non-ionic surfactant and a cationic coupling agent ([2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]trime-thylammonium chloride (MATMAC)). This process produced an interesting morphology in which the MWNTs, consisting of bead-string shapes or MWNTs embedded in the beads, when polymer beads were sufficiently large, produced nanohybrid material. This morphology was attributed to the interaction between the cationic coupling agent and the nanotube surface which induced polymerization within the hemimicellar or hemicylindrical structures of surfactant micelles on the surface of the nanotubes. In a solution containing MATMAC alone without surfactant, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were not well-dispersed, and in a solution containing only surfactant without MATMAC, polymeric beads were synthesized in isolation from CNTs and continued to exist separately. The incorporation of MATMAC and surfactant together enabled large amounts of CNTs (> 0.05 wt%) to be well-dispersed in water and very effectively encapsulated by polymer chains. This method could be applied to other well-dispersed CNT solutions containing amphiphilic molecules, regardless of the type (i.e., anionic, cationic or nonionic). In this way, the solubility and dispersion of nanotubes could be increased in a solvent or polymer matrix. By enhancing the interfacial adhesion, this method might also contribute to the improved dispersion of nanotubes in a polymer matrix and thus the creation of superior polymer nanocomposites.