Monodisperse Cylindrical Micelles of Controlled Length with a Liquid-Crystalline Perfluorinated Core by 1D “Self-Seeding”

Precise control over the morphology and dimensions of block copolymer (BCP) micelles has attracted interest due to the potential of this approach to generate functional nanostructures. Incorporation of liquid crystalline (LC) block can provide additional ways to vary micellar morphologies, but the formation of uniform micelles with controllable dimensions from LC BCPs has not yet been realized. Herein, we report the preparation of monodisperse cylindrical micelles with a LC poly(2-(perfluorooctyl)ethyl methacrylate (PFMA) core via a fragmentation-thermal annealing (F-TA) process, resembling the “self-seeding” process of crystalline BCP micelles. The average length of the cylinders increases with annealing temperature, with a narrow length distribution (L_w/L_n<1.1). We also demonstrate the potential application of the cylinders with LC cores as a cargo-carrier by the successful incorporation of a hydrophobic fluorescent dye tagged with a fluorooctyl group.