Polyelectrolyte micelles: Self-diffusion and electron microscopy studies

We report the results of a study on aqueous solutions of hydrophobically mo dified polyelectrolytes (charge-neutral diblock copolymers) by different te chniques which have been specifically chosen for demonstrating unambiguousl y the existence of micelles. Self-diffusion measurements by fluorescence re covery after photobleaching (FRAPP) and pulsed NMR spectroscopy measure the micellar sizes which are in agreement with light scattering data on dilute solutions. Cryo-transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM) pictures confi rm the existence of the micellar cores in contrast with homopolyelectrolyte solutions where no features are observed.