Self-Assembly of Polymeric Micelles Made of Asymmetric Polystyrene-b-Polyacrylic Acid-b-Polyethylene Oxide for the Synthesis of Mesoporous Nickel Ferrite

Abstract

In this work, we report the synthesis of mesoporous nickel ferrite with an average pore size of 22 nm by using the laboratory-synthesized asymmetric polystyrene-b-polyacrylic acid-b-polyethylene oxide (PS-b-PAA-b-PEO) triblock copolymer as a soft template. Here, PS acts as a pore-forming agent, whereas PAA acts as a reaction site for the metal ions owing to its strong electrostatic interaction with positively charged metal ions. Furthermore, the PEO polymer provides stability for the micelles in solution and also promotes the orderly organization of the composite particles during assembly of the micelles.