Quantitative analysis of polymer-Balls in aqueous solutions by small-angle neutron scattering

The quantitative analysis of polymer micelles consisting of amphiphilic block copolymers was carried out by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The block copolymers, made of poly (2-ethoxyethyl vinyl ether-b-2-hydroxyethyl vinyl ether) (poly(EOVE-b-HOVE)), exhibited a sharp morphological transition from a homogeneous solution to a micelle structure with increasing temperature. This transition is accompanied by a formation of spherical domains of poly(EOVE) with a radius around 200 A. The variations of the size and its distribution of the domains were investigated as a function of polymer concentration and temperature. The validity of SANS analysis, including, the wavelength- and incident-beam-smearing effects of the SANS instrument, was examined with a pre-calibrated polystyrene latex.