Intermolecular interactions and solvent diffusion in ordered nanostructures formed by self-assembly of block copolymers

Hydrogels formed by Poloxamer poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide) (PEO-PPO) block copolymers find various pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. A variety of ordered structures can be exhibited by Poloxamer block copolymers in selective solvents such as water, for example, micellar cubic phase, hexagonal phase, lamellar phase, etc. We are interested in the thermodynamic and transport properties of water in such hydrogels that have an ordered (lyotropic liquid crystalline) structure. We have investigated the time evolution of water loss from Poloxamer gel films under a driving force of known water vapor pressure in the air in contact with the film. The experimental data on the drying process have been fitted to the diffusion equation for water in the film, under a boundary condition that includes the water concentration in the gel at infinite time; the water diffusion coefficient and other parameters have thus been obtained. The water chemical potential and osmotic pressure in the gel have been obtained from osmotic stress measurements. The osmotic pressure (force), together with data on the corresponding lyotropic liquid crystal spacing (distance) that we obtained from Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) measurements, have been analyzed to provide information on the prevailing intermolecular (inter-assembly) forces in the gel. The forces in the gel reveal interactions that occur at two levels, that of the PEO coil and that of the PEO segment.