Unique morphological responses of Trimethylsilylacetylene and Pentafluorophenol functionalized norbornene copolymers under amphiphilic solvent conditions

Exo-norbornene-based polymer, conjugated with Trimethylsilylacetylene and Pentafluorophenol motifs through an ester bond, was synthesized through the ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) technique, resulting in the formation of the copolymer, (NORSi)<b>_m</b>-b-(NORPfP)<b>_n.</b> The mode of assembly was documented in different organic solvent systems (e.g., THF, THF-MeOH, THF-ACN, THF-Hexane). Light scattering and microscopic techniques were used to analyze the solvent-dependent morphology transformation. Fluorescence spectroscopy showed the pattern of encapsulation efficiency with the variation of solvent ratio and polymer concentration. The overall observations encompass the factors of polarity, hydrogen bonding, solubility density, etc. The encapsulation efficiency is a complex pugilism between London force and solubility; therefore, the assembly’s shape and size play a vital role in controlling the encapsulation of hydrophobic dye. The morphological comparison of block co-polymer and its parental homopolymers illuminate an orientation of the constituent blocks in different solvent mixtures, and ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy gives a supportive qualitative analysis of this observation.