Versatile morphology transition of nano-assemblies via ultrasonics/microwave assisted aqueous polymerization-induced self-assembly based on host–guest interaction

Nano-assemblies have wide applications in biomedicine, functional coatings, Pickering emulsifiers, hydrogels, and so forth. The preparation of assemblies mainly utilizes the polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) method, which can produce high-concentration nanoscale assemblies in one step. However, the initiation processes of most reported PISA are limited to thermal initiation. Here, we reported two green and efficient methods for synthesizing nano-assemblies with various morphologies using ultrasound (20 kHz)/ microwave (500 W) assisted aqueous-phase RAFT-PISA in 3 h and 1 h. Cyclodextrin (CD) and styrene (St) nucleating monomer were complexed in a 1:1 ratio. Then, using Poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether as the macromolecular reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) agent (PEG-CTA) to control the CD/St complexes, the conversion rate of St monomer was respectively 27 %-60 %, 20 %-30 % within 3 h and 1 h under ultrasonics/microwave assisted PISA. Results showed that the morphologies of the assemblies are not only related to the length of PS block, but also to the assistance types and the remaining monomer concentration. The results showed that only PEG