Fabrication of fullerene-containing hybrid vesicles via supramolecular self-assembly of a well-defined amphiphilic block copolymer incorporated with a single C₆₀ moiety at the diblock junction point

A well-defined amphiphilic block copolymer bearing a reactive azide group at the interface of two blocks, polyethylene oxide)(-azido)-blocke-polystyrene (PEO(-N₃)-b-PS), has been successfully synthesized via a combination of end group transformation and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The subsequent [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction between PEO(N₃)-b-PS and C₆₀ led to the facile preparation of PEO(-C₆₀)-b-PS, in which a single C₆₀ moiety was located at the diblock junction point. Fullerene-containing hybrid vesicles were then fabricated for the first time via the supramolecular selfassembly of PEO₄₅(-C₆₀)-b-PS ₃₈₀ in aqueous solution using 1,4-dioxane as the cosolvent. The current example augurs well for tunable spatial ordering of desired moieties (fullerene or other functional nanoparticles) by employing block copolymers as self-organizing templates.