Abstract

Noninvasive ultrasound is a more effective strategy for on-demand drug delivery of polymeric nanoparticles than many other stimuli. However, the preparation of ultrasound-responsive homopolymer nanoparticles is still very challenging. In this paper, we disclose the regulating factors of ultrasound responsiveness of homopolymer nanoparticles and the disaggregation behavior of homopolymer nanoparticle aggregates. Homopolymer nanoparticles such as vesicles and large compound micelles (LCMs) are self-assembled from poly(methoxyethyl methacrylate) (PMEMA) and poly(amic acid) (PAA), respectively. The ultrasound responsiveness of PAA vesicles can be regulated by tuning the self-assembly temperature (Ts) around the glass transition temperature (Tg) of PAA, but the PMEMA LCMs don’t respond to ultrasound. On the other hand, poly(2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl acrylate) (PEEA) can self-assemble into vesicle aggregates or complex micelle aggregates, which can be dissociated upon sonication. Overall, the above findings provided us with a fresh insight for designing ultrasound-responsive homopolymer nanoparticles.

文章链接： Chinese Journal of Polymer Science     2019, DOI: 10.1007/s10118-020-2345-6.