Structural Behavior of Amphiphilic Triblock Copolymer P104/Water System.

A detailed study of the different structural transitions of the triblock copolymer PEO-PPO-PEO (P104) in water, in the dilute and semi-dilute regions, is addressed here as a function of temperature and P104 concentration (C) by mean of complimentary methods: viscosimetry, densimetry, dynamic light scattering, turbidimetry, polarized microscopy, and rheometry. The hydration profile was calculated through density and sound velocity measurements. It was possible to identify the regions where monomers exist, spherical micelle formation, elongated cylindrical micelles formation, clouding points, and liquid crystalline behavior. We report a partial phase diagram including information for P104 concentrations from 1 × 10 to 90 wt.% and temperatures from 20 to 75 °C that will be helpful for further interaction studies with hydrophobic molecules or active principles for drug delivery.