Noncovalent polymerization and assembly in water promoted by thermodynamic incompatibility.

This work studies the phase separations between polymers and a small molecule in a common aqueous solution that do not have well-defined hydrophobic-hydrophilic separation. In addition to poly(acrylamide) (PAAm) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) also promotes liquid crystal (LC) droplet formation by disodium cromoglycate (5'DSCG) solvated in water. In the presence of these polymers, the concentration of 5'DSCG needed for forming LC droplets is substantially lower than that needed for forming an LC phase by 5'DSCG alone.