Hydrophobically modified water-soluble polymers (HMWSPs), comprised of a poly(sodium methacrylate) (PMANa) or poly(sodium acrylate) (PANa) backbone and pendent dodecyl methacrylate (DMA) or dodecyl acrylamide (DAAm) chains, respectively, were synthesized. The hydrophobic content of the copolymers, P(MANa-co-DMA) and P(ANa-co-DAAm), is in the range of 0 to 25 mol%, while their weight-average mol...

Amphiphilic microgels of different composition based on the hydrophilic, pH-responsive acrylic acid (AA) and the hydrophobic, non-ionic n-butyl acrylate (BuA) were synthesised using a lab-on-a-chip device. Hydrophobic droplets were generated via a microfluidic platform that contained a protected form of AA, BuA, the hydrophobic crosslinker, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), and a free rad...

In this study, novel hydrophilic multiblock copolymers composed of semi-crystalline poly(ε-caprolactone) [PCL] blocks and amorphous blocks consisting of poly(D,Llactide) (PDLA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) [PDLA-PEG] were synthesized. The block ratio of these [PDLA-PEG]-b-[PCL] multiblock copolymers was varied and the degradation of implants prepared of these polymers by hot melt extrusion (...

Stealth nanoparticles made of polymer micelles are ideal drug carriers for targeted drug delivery, but their stability is critical for intravenous applications. We found that core-surfacecrosslinked nanoparticles (SCNp) made from amphiphilic brush copolymers had greatly enhanced stability. The surface of the SCNps can be easily tailored by using different chains. The amphiphilic brush copolymer...

Pluronic poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(propylene oxide)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO) block copolymers are grafted with poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) by free radical polymerization of vinyl pyrrolidone with simultaneous chain transfer to the Pluronic in dioxane. This modified polymer has both thermal responsiveness and remarkable capacity to interact with a wide variety of hydrophilic and hydrop...

The bending rigidity k(c) of bilayer vesicles self-assembled from amphiphilic diblock copolymers has been measured using single- and dual-micropipet techniques. These copolymers are nearly a factor of 5 greater in hydrophobic membrane thickness d than their lipid counterparts and an order of magnitude larger in molecular weight M(n). The macromolecular structure of these amphiphiles lends insig...

Hydrogels have found promising applications in drug delivery due to their biocompatibility, high drug loading capability, and tunable release profiles. However, hydrogel-based carriers are primarily employed for delivering hydrophilic payloads while hydrophobic drugs cannot be efficiently delivered due to the lack of hydrophobic domains within conventional hydrogel matrices. Herein, we report t...

In this paper, the dynamic assembly of toroidal micelle structures of amphiphilic triblock copolymers in dilute solution has been investigated using dissipative particle dynamics simulations. The amphiphilic molecule is represented by a coarse-grained model, which contains hydrophilic and hydrophobic particles. Some microstructures of complex morphology having toroidal micelles have been observ...

In this work, micelles composed of doxorubicin-conjugated Y-shaped copolymers (YMs) linked via an acid-labile linker were constructed. Y-shaped copolymers of mPEG-b-poly(glutamate-hydrazone-doxorubicin)2 and linear copolymers of mPEG-b-poly(glutamate-hydrazone-doxorubicin) were synthesized and characterized. Particle size, size distribution, morphology, drug loading content (DLC) and drug relea...

Synthetic polycations, such as nylon-3 copolymers, are regarded to be good functional mimics of antimicrobial peptides acting mostly by permeabilizing bacterial membranes. Understanding more complex membrane behavior behind permeabilization, e.g. vesicle aggregation and fusion, has major implications for the better interpretation different mechanisms actions. The interactions two types copolyme...