Combined atom-transfer radical polymerization and ring-opening polymerization to design polymer-polypeptide copolymer conjugates toward self-aggregated hybrid micro/nanospheres for dye encapsulation

Abstract

A designed orthogonal dual initiator is employed to construct poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-polytyrosine copolymer conjugates via the combination of atom-transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate, “click” chemistry and ring-opening polymerization of tyrosine–α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydride monomer. The polymer–polypeptide conjugate undergoes self-aggregation in dimethylformamide to produce hybrid micro/nanospheres owing to the formation of composite micelle as evidenced from field emission scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering study. A simple solution-based approach is described to encapsulate an organic dye (Rhodamine-6G) into the aggregated hybrid micro/nanospheres. Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article. Supplementary Information Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.