Eur. Phys. J. E 7, 339-344 (2002)
DOI: 10.1140/epje/i2001-10095-5

Vesicle-to-micelle transition induced by grafted diblock copolymers

A. Schalchli-Plaszczynski^{1, 2} and L. Auvray<sup>1, 2

1</sup>  Laboratoire Léon Brillouin (CEA-CNRS), CEN Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
²  Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne, 91025 Evry Cedex, France

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(Received 12 June 2001 and Received in final form 18 March 2002)

Abstract
We study by small-angle neutron scattering the vesicle-to-micelle transition induced by anchoring diblock copolymers on the surfactant membranes. Vesicles are made using the ternary system SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate)/octanol/PS-POE (polystyrene-polyoxyethylene), chosen as a model of more complex biological systems. The anchored polymer chains destabilize the membranes and lead to the formation of mixed polymer-surfactant micelles. We show that there is no influence of the polymer mass on the membranes destabilization. We compare this experimental result with recent theoretical predictions concerning the polymer-grafted membranes. We have a good agreement with predictions involving membrane curvature effects, and also with predictions focusing on more local deformations of membranes created by the grafted chains.

PACS
87.16.Dg - Membranes, bilayers, and vesicles.
83.80.Uv - Block copolymers.
61.12.Ex - Neutron scattering techniques (including small-angle scattering).


© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2002