Morphological, Physical Characterization of Poly(acrylic acid) Nanogel Prepared by Electron Beam Irradiation

Nanogels are internally cross-linked particles of sub-micrometer size made of hydrophilic polymers and are considered a distinct type of macromolecules, compared with linear and branched polymers or macroscopic gels. In this study, we studied a method of radiation induced synthesis of nanogels, which allows us to obtain tailored intra-molecularly crosslinked macromolecules of independently chosen molecular weight and dimensions. Thus, we report the possibility of applying the prepared nanogels using poly(acrylic acid) through electron beam irradiation for potential application as biomaterials. The nanogels were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, the size and zeta-potential of nanogels were measured by a particle size analyzer (PSA). The nanogels were prepared at an approximate size of 180 nm at 100 kGy and were spherical in shapes. The size of the nanogels decreased with increasing irradiation doses, and the absolute value of zeta potential increased with increasing irradiation doses.