Chapter 17: Photopolymerization of Amphiphilic Molecule Self-assemblies

The use of self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules or block copolymers is an interesting alternative to classical synthesis methods for elaborating original and complex architectures. Because of its rapidity, photoinitiated radical polymerization is widely used to fix transient self-assembled structures. This chapter presents the kinetics and structural aspects of the radical photopolymerization of surfactant micelles, surfactant vesicles and block copolymer self-assemblies. The possibility, or not, to achieve ideal topochemical polymerization is discussed in terms of the competition between the rate of the photopolymerization process and the exchange rate of chains between self-assemblies.