The preparation of carboxylated hyperbranched polyglycerols of narrow polydispersity was achieved by modification (78-90%) of the hydroxyl end groups via Michael addition of acrylonitrile, followed by hydrolysis. High conversion could only be achieved for low molecular weight starting materials (520 and 1,030 g mol-1). The solution properties of the resulting materials were investigated by dyna...

Aggregation of α-synuclein is believed to play an important role in Parkinson's disease and in other neurodegenerative maladies. Small molecule inhibitors of this process are among the most promising drug candidates for neurodegenerative diseases. Dendrimers have also been studied for anti-fibrillation applications but they can be difficult and expensive to synthetize. Here we show that RAFT po...

Self-condensing vinyl hyperbranched polymerization (SCVP) with A-B* type monomer is simulated applying Monte Carlo method using 3d bond fluctuation lattice model in three-dimensional space. The kinetics of SCVP with zero active energy of reaction is studied in detail. It is found that the maximal number–average and weight–average polymerization degrees and the maximal molecular weight distribut...

Hyperbranched macromolecules (HMs, also called hyperbranched polymers) are highly branched three-dimensional (3D) structures in which all bonds converge to a focal point or core, and which have a multiplicity of reactive chain-ends. This review summarizes major types of synthetic strategies exploited to produce HMs, including the step-growth polycondensation, the self-condensing vinyl polymeriz...

A hydrophilic, positively charged, durable coating has been developed for capillary electrophoresis of macromolecules. Polyethyleneimine is adsorbed to the inner wall of fused silica capillaries and the adsorbed coating cross-linked into a stable layer. Capillaries of polyethyleneimine-coated silica gave unique separations owing to the reversal of electro-osmotic flow caused by the positively c...

In this paper, based on the previous steps, a facile in situ reduction method was developed to controllably prepare polystyrene/Ag (PS/Ag) core-shell-shaped nanostructures. The crucial procedure includes surface treatment of polystyrene core particles by cationic polyelectrolyte polyethyleneimine, in situ formation of Ag nanoparticles, and immobilization of the Ag nanoparticles onto the surface...

Transfection efficiency was the primary goal for in vitro gene delivery mediated by nonviral gene carriers. Here, we report a modified gene transfection method that could greatly increase the efficiency of, and accelerate the process mediated by, 25 kDa branched polyethyleneimine and Lipofectamine™ 2000 in a broad range of cell strains, including tumor, normal, primary, and embryonic stem cells...

We demonstrate a promising strategy to combine the micro-electromechanical film bulk acoustic resonator and the nanostructured sensitive fibers for the detection of low-concentration formaldehyde vapor. The polyethyleneimine nanofibers were directly deposited on the resonator surface by a simple electrospinning method. The film bulk acoustic resonator working at 4.4 GHz acted as a sensitive mas...