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Synthesis and Solution Self-assembly of Poly(L-Lactide)-based Amphiphilic Block Copolymers
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Petretic, Amy |
| Copyright Year | 2015 |
| Abstract | Nanostructures based on biocompatible and biodegradable polymers are desirable for numerous biomedical applications. An amphiphilic block copolymer, poly(L-lactide)-bpoly(acrylic acid) (PLLA-b-PAA), was synthesized by combination of ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of L-lactide and reversible-addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of tert-butyl acrylate, a protected acrylic acid. Methoxy-terminated poly(ethylene glycol)-amine, a protein-repellent polymer, was conjugated to a portion of the PAA block to prepare a brush copolymer, PLLA-b-P(AA-r-PEGAm). The self-assembly of these amphiphilic block copolymers was explored in dilute aqueous solution using a solventswitch method. A number of morphologies were observed when the self-assembly conditions (e.g., solvent, concentration, temperature) were varied. These structures included fibers, lozenges, and intermediate fiber-lozenge structures. The most intriguing result was that PLLA-b-PAA formed well-defined lozenge-shaped structures when the self-assembly was performed at 55 °C. The –COOH groups on the PAA corona of the micelles were used to coordinate to cisplatin, demonstrating the potential of the micelles to be employed as nanocarriers for drug delivery. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/69675/3/Petretic_Amy_201506_MSc_thesis.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
