Synthesis of zwitterionic polymer-based amphiphilic triblock copolymers by atom transfer radical polymerization for production of extremely stable nanoemlusions

In fields of soft matter, there have been growing interests in utilizing amphiphilic block copolymers due to their intriguing properties, such as surface activity as well as self-assembly. In this work, we synthesize a series of poly (2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl phosphorylcholine)-$b$-poly ($\varepsilon $-caprolactone)-$b$-poly (2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl phosphorylcholine) (PMPC-$b$-PCL-$b$-PMPC) triblock copolymers by using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). We have a particular interest in using poly (2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl phosphorylcholine) (PMPC) as a hydrophilic block, since it can have both electrostatic repulsion and steric repulsion in complex fluid systems. Assembling them at the oil-water interface by using the phase inversion method enables production of highly stable nanoemulsions. From the analyses of the crystallography and self-assembly behavior, we have found that the triblock copolymers assemble to form a flexible but tough molecular thin film at the interface, which is essential for the remarkable improvement in the emulsion stability.