• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.3025-3030
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• 2009

Novel poly(aspartic acid) derivatives conjugated with $\gamma$-amino butyric acid, GABA, moieties, and their amphiphilic analogs were synthesized and characterized. The chemical structures of these polymers were confirmed by FT-IR and $^1H$ NMR spectroscopy. Their physicochemical properties in aqueous media were characterized by electrophonetic light scattering spectrophotometry (ELS), acid-base titration, and UV-spectroscopy. In addition, the in vitro cell activity of the GABA-conjugated polymer was examined. These results indicated that GABA-conjugated poly(aspartic acid) derivatives showed cell-growth activity and nanoparticle formation of a suitable size within aqueous media. These polymers have potential application in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical fields.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.143-149
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• 2008

We synthesized PEG-PLA (or PLGA) amphiphilic di-block copolymers, which consist of PEG as biocompatible and hydrophilic block and PLA (or PLGA) as biodegradable and hydrophobic block, by ring opening polymerization of LA in the presence of methoxy PEG as a macroinitiator. The compositions and the molecular weights of the copolymers were controlled by changing the feed ratio of LA (and GA) to PEG initiator. The di-block copolymers could self-assemble in aqueous media to form micellar structure. A hydrophobic model drug, pioglitazone, was loaded into the polymer micelle using solid dispersion and dialysis methods, and the drug-loaded micelles were characterized by AFM, DLS and HPLC measurements. The drug loading capacity and in vitro release studies were performed and evaluated under various conditions. These results indicated that the amphiphilic di-block copolymers of PEG-PLA (or PLGA) could solubilize pioglitazone by solid dispersion method and the drug release was modulated according to micellar chemical compositions.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.926-930
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• 2009

A new method for encapsulating nanomaterials within intermediary layer cross-linked (ILCL) polymeric micelles using a bifunctional photo-cross-linking agent was developed. For ILCL polymeric micelles, an amphiphilic triblock copolymer of poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PEG-PHEMA-PMMA) was synthesized via consecutive atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), Di(4-hydroxyl benzophenone) dodecanedioate (BPD) was used as a bifunctional photo-cross-linking agent. The PMMA-tethered Au nanoparticles and BPD, or pyrene and BPD were encapsulated in the PEG-PHEMA-PMMA micelles, and their intermediary layers were photo-cross-linked by UV irradiation for 1 h. The HEMA units donated labile hydrogens to the excited-state benzophenone groups in BPD, and they were subsequently cross-linked by BPD through radical-radical combination. The spherical structures of the PEG-PHEMA-PMMA micelles containing the Au nanoparticles or pyrene were unaffected by the photo-cross-linking process.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.289-289
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• 2006

The carboxylated MWNTs were successfully prepared by conventional acid treatment, and their structures were confirmed by FT-IR, Raman and TEM analysis. The water-dispersibility of the surface modified WNTs were good. The COOH-MWNT will show better stability during the emulsion polymerization as compared with Pristine MWNT. In-situ emulsion polymerizations of methyl methacrylate N(MMA) and n-butyl acrylate (BA) were carried out. Aggregate size and dispersion stability of the CNTs in water phase were measured using dynamic light scattering, turbidity, UV-visible spectrophotometer, and electron microscope. In addition, thermo-mechanical properties of MWNT/polymer nanocomposites were investigated.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.13-24
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• 2017

In this study, nanoparticles which encapsulated hydrophobic antimicrobial compounds with 50wt% of payload and 70%of solid content were prepared. These nanoparticles could be dispersed at water as well as various medium. Water dispersible organic-inorganic (O-I) hybrid nanoparticles were first prepared using alkoxysilane-functionalized amphiphilic polymer precursors through a conventional sol-gel process. Hydrophobic antimicrobial compound, Eugenol encapsulated nanoparticles were prepared using these O-I hybrid nanoparticles through a new nanoprecipitation process. The effect of various preparation on the size of nanoparticles, amount of payload, antimicrobial activity, and release rate of encapsulated compounds was investigated. All eugenol-encapsulated O-I nanoparticles regardless of preparation condition showed the same minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) (50mg/ml) and 99% of antimicrobial activity for every strain. Their antimicrobial activity could maintain longer than two weeks. Especially, eugenol-encapsulated O-I nanoparticles prepared using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) exhibited the highest payload (50wt%) and the lowest release rate which was owing to higher inorganic content in the O-I nanoparticles. And these O-I nanoparticles dispersed in hexanediol (HD) showed the highest antimicrobial activity and solid content (70wt%) because HD acted as a solvent as well as a antimicrobial agent.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.311-317
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• 2002

The quantitative analysis of polymer micelles consisting of amphiphilic block copolymers was carried out by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The block copolymers, made of poly(2-ethoxyethyl vinyl ether-b-2-hydroxyethyl vinyl ether)(poly(EOVE-b-HOVE)), exhibited a sharp morphological transition from a homogeneous solution to a micelle structure with increasing temperature. This transition is accompanied by a formation of spherical domains of poly(EOVE) with a radius around 200 $\AA$. The variations of the size and its distribution of the domains were investigated as a function of polymer concentration and temperature. The validity of SANS analysis, including the wavelength- and incident-beam-smearing effects of the SANS instrument, was examined with a pre-calibrated polystyrene latex.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.72-78
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• 2009

Size control of therapeutic carriers in drug delivery systems has become important due to its relevance to biodistribution in the human body and therapeutic efficacy. To understand the dependence of particle size on the formation condition during nanoprecipitation method, we prepared nanoparticles from biodegradable, amphiphilic block copolymers and investigated the particle size and structure of the resultant nanoparticles according to various process parameters. We synthesized monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly($\varepsilon$-caprolactone) block copolymer, MPEG-PCL, with different MPEG/PCL ratios via ring opening polymerization initiated from the hydroxyl end group of MPEG. Using various formulations with systematic change of the block ratio of MPEG and PCL, solvent choice, and concentration of organic phase, MPEG-PCL nanoparticles were prepared through nanoprecipitation technique. The results indicated that (i) the nanoparticles have a dual structure with an MPEG shell and a PCL core, originating from self-assembly of MPEG-PCL copolymer in aqueous condition, and (ii) the size of nanoparticles is dependent upon two sequential processes: diffusion between the organic and aqueous phases and solidification of the polymer.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1800-1808
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• 2013

Dual-responsive amphiphilic block copolymers were synthesized by combining enzymatic ring-opening polymerization (eROP) of ${\varepsilon}$-caprolactone (CL) and ATRP of N,N-dimethylamino-2-ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA). The obtained block copolymers were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), $^1H$ NMR and FTIR-IR. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of copolymer was determined by fluorescence spectra, it can be found that with hydrophilic block (PDMAEMA) increasing, CMC value of the polymer sample increased accordingly, and the CMC value was 0.012 mg/mL, 0.025 mg/mL and 0.037 mg/mL for $PCL_{50}$-b-$PDMAEMA_{68}$, $PCL_{50}$-b-$PDMAEMA_{89}$, $PCL_{50}$-b-$PDMAEMA_{112}$, $PCL_{50}$-b-$PDMAEMA_{89}$ was chosen as drug carrier to study in vitro release profile of anti-cancer drug (taxol). The temperature and pH dependence of the values of hydrodynamic diameter (Dh) of micelles, and self-assembly of the resulting block copolymers in water were evaluated by dynamic light scattering (DLS). The result showed that with the temperature increasing and pH decreasing, the Dh decreased. Drug-loaded nanoparticles were fabricated using paclitaxel as model. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) had been explored to study the morphology of the hollow micelles and the nanoparticles, revealing well-dispersed spheres with the average diameters both around 80 nm. In vitro release kinetics of paclitaxel from the nanoparticles was also investigated in different conditions (pH and temperature, etc.), revealing that the drug release was triggered by temperature changes upon the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) at pH 7.4, and at $37^{\circ}C$ by an increase of pH.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.301-306
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• 2009

This work has demonstrated that a novel amphiphilic poly(epichlorohydrine)-graft-polystyrene (PECH-g-PS) copolymer at 34:66 wt% was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene using PECH as a macroinitiator. The structure of the graft copolymer was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance ($^1H$ NMR) and FTIR spectroscopy, demonstrating that the "grafting from" method using ATRP was successful. The self-assembled graft copolymer was used as a template film for the in-situ growth of silver nanoparticles from $AgCF_3SO_3$ precursor under UV irradiation. The in situ formation of silver nanoparticles with 6-8 nm in average size in the solid state template film was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-visible spectroscopy and wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) also displayed the selective incorporation and the in situ formation of silver nanoparticles within the hydrophilic PECH domains, probably due to stronger interaction of the silvers with the ether oxygens of PECH backbone than that with hydrophobic PS side chains.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.169-177
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• 2008

This paper reports a facile synthesis of new water-soluble poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based amphiphilic block copolymers showing pH sensitive phase transition behaviors. The copolymers were prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methacrylamide type of monomers carrying a sulfonamide group using a PEO-based macroinitiator and a Cu(I)Br/$Me_6TREN$ catalytic system in aqueous media. The resulting polymers were characterized by a combination of $^1H$-NMR, size exclusion chromatography, and UV/Visible spectrophotometeric analysis. The micellization of the block copolymers as a drug-loading mechanism in aqueous media using fluorescein salt was examined as a function of pH. The stable micelle formation and its loading efficacy suggest that the block copolymers can be used as precursors for drug-nanocontainers.