SELF-ASSEMBLED AGGREGATES OF ROD-COIL BLOCK-COPOLYMERS AND THEIR SOLUBILIZATION AND ENCAPSULATION OF FULLERENES

Amphiphilic poly(phenylquinoline)-block-polystyrene rod-coil diblock c opolymers were observed to self-organize into robust, micrometer-scale , spherical, vesicular, cylindrical, and lamellar aggregates from solu tion. These diverse aggregate morphologies were seen at each compositi on, but their size scale decreased with a decreasing fraction of the r igid-rod block. Compared to coil-coil block copolymer micelles, the pr esent aggregates are larger by about two orders of magnitude and have aggregation numbers of over 10(8). The spherical and cylindrical aggre gates have large hollow cavities. Only spherical aggregates with aggre gation numbers in excess of 10(9) were formed in the presence of fulle renes (C-60, C-70) in solution, resulting in the solubilization and en capsulation of over 10(10) fullerene molecules per aggregate.