Self‐assembly and degradation of poly[(2‐methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine)‐block‐(D,L‐lactide)] diblock copolymers: large compound micelles to vesicles |
| |
| Authors: | Gongyan Liu Xiaofen Hu Chaojian Chen Qiao Jin Jian Ji |
| |
| Affiliation: | MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China |
| |
| Abstract: | Biodegradable poly(2‐methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine)‐block‐(D ,L ‐lactide)] (PMPC‐b‐PLA) diblock copolymers with various hydrophilic PMPC weight fractions (fPC) will spontaneously self‐assemble into well‐defined vesicles and large compound micelles (LCMs) in water. Transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering and fluorescence microscopy were used to observe their aggregate morphologies. The degradation of the LCMs was investigated and the loss of molecular weight of PLA blocks was confirmed using 1H NMR analysis. The hydrolysis of PLA increases fPC and consequently shifts the preferred morphology from LCMs to vesicles. Such degradation‐induced morphological transitions mean that the biocompatible and biodegradable LCMs have great application potential in drug delivery. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry |
| |
| Keywords: | self‐assembly degradation micelles vesicles large compound micelle |
|
|
