Molecular Exchange Dynamics in Block Copolymer Micelles

Poly(styrene-$b$-ethylene propylene) (PS-PEP) diblock copolymers were mixed with squalane (C$_{30}$H$_{62})$ at 1{\%} by weight resulting in the formation of spherical micelles. The structure and dynamics of molecular exchange were characterized by synchrotron small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and time resolved small-angle neutron scattering (TR-SANS), respectively, between 100 \r{ }C and 160 \r{ }C. TR-SANS measurements were performed with solutions initially containing deuterium labeled micelle cores and normal cores dispersed in a contrast matched squalane. Monitoring the reduction in scattering intensity as a function of time at various temperatures revealed molecular exchange dynamics highly sensitive to the core molecular weight and molecular weight distribution. Time-temperature superposition of data acquired at different temperatures produced a single master curve for all the mixtures. Experiments conducted with isotopically labeled micelle cores, each formed from two different but relatively mondisperse PS blocks, confirmed a simple dynamical model based on first order kinetics and core Rouse single chain relaxation. These findings demonstrate a dramatic transition to nonergodicity with increasing micelle core molecular weight and confirm the origins of the logarithmic exchange kinetics in such systems.