skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Core–Shell Structure and Aggregation Number of Micelles Composed of Amphiphilic Block Copolymers and Amphiphilic Heterografted Polymer Brushes Determined by Small-Angle X-ray Scattering

Journal Article · · ACS Macro Letters
 [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [3];  [2];  [4]
  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States
  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, United States
  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois 60616, United States
  4. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States; Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60612, United States

A large group of functional nanomaterials employed in biomedical applications, including targeted drug delivery, relies on amphiphilic polymers to encapsulate therapeutic payloads via self-assembly processes. Knowledge of the micelle structures will provide critical insights into design of polymeric drug delivery systems. Core–shell micelles composed of linear diblock copolymers poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(caprolactone) (PEG-b-PCL), poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(lactic acid) (PEG-b-PLA), as well as a heterografted brush consisting of a poly(glycidyl methacrylate) backbone with PEG and PLA branches (PGMA-g-PEG/PLA) were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements to gain structural information regarding the particle morphology, core–shell size, and aggregation number. The structural information at this quasi-equilibrium state can also be used as a reference when studying the kinetics of polymer micellization.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI ID:
1409092
Journal Information:
ACS Macro Letters, Vol. 6, Issue 9; ISSN 2161-1653
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH