Synthesis and characterization of biodegradable amphiphilic ABC Y‐shaped miktoarm terpolymer by click chemistry for drug delivery

Biodegradable amphiphilic ABC Y‐shaped triblock copolymer (MPBC) containing PEG, PBLA, and PCL segments was synthesized via the combination of enzymatic ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of epsilon‐caprolactone, ROP of BLA‐N‐carboxyanhydride and click chemistry, where PEG, PBLA, and PCL are poly(ethylene glycol), poly(benzyl‐l ‐aspartate), and polycaprolactone, respectively. Propynylamine was employed as ROP initiator for the preparation of alkynyl‐terminated PBLA and methyloxy‐PEG with hydroxyl and azide groups at the chain‐end was used as enzymatic ROP initiator for synthesis of monoazido‐midfunctionalized block copolymer mPEG‐b‐PCL. The subsequent click reaction led to the formation of Y‐shaped asymmetric heteroarm terpolymer MPBC. The polymer structures were characterized by different analyses. The MPBC terpolymer self‐assembled into micelles and physically encapsulated drug doxorubicin (DOX) to form DOX‐loaded micelles, which showed good stability and slow drug release. In vitro cytotoxicity study indicated that the MPBC micelles were nontoxic and the DOX‐loaded micelles displayed obvious anticancer activity similar to free DOX against HeLa cells. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 3346–3355     

Efficient one‐pot synthesis of water‐compatible and photoresponsive molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles by facile RAFT precipitation polymerization

A facile, general, and highly efficient one‐pot approach to obtain azobenzene (azo)‐containing molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) nanoparticles with photoresponsive template binding and release properties in aqueous media is described, which involves the combined use of hydrophilic macromolecular chain transfer agent‐mediated reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer precipitation polymerization and easily available water‐insoluble azo functional monomers. The resulting azo‐containing MIPs were characterized with dynamic laser scattering (DLS), SEM, FTIR, static contact angle and water dispersion studies, and equilibrium binding experiments. They have proven to be nanoparticles (their diameters being around 104–397 nm, as determined by DLS in methanol) with surface‐grafted hydrophilic polymer brushes and exhibit excellent pure water‐compatible template binding properties. Moreover, obvious photoregulated template binding behaviors were observed for such azo‐containing MIP nanoparticles, which led to their largely accelerated template release in the aqueous media under the UV light irradiation. Furthermore, the general applicability of the strategy was also demonstrated. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 1941–1952     

Molecular dynamics simulations of displacement cascades in Fe-10%Cr systems

Molecular dynamics simulations of the displacement cascades in Fe-10%Cr systems are used to simulate the primary knocked-on atom events of the irradiation damage at temperatures 300,600,and 750 K with primary knockedon atom energies between 1 and 15 keV.The results indicate that the vacancies produced by the cascade are all in the central region of the displacement cascade.During the cascade,all recoil Fe and Cr atoms combine with each other to form Fe-Cr or Fe-Fe interstitial dumbbells as well as interstitial clusters.The number and the size of interstitial clusters increase with the energy of the primary knocked-on atom and the temperature.A few large clusters consist of a large number of Fe interstitials with a few Cr atoms,the rest are Fe-Cr clusters with small and medium sizes.The interstitial dumbbells of Fe-Fe and Fe-Cr are in the 111 and 110 series directions,respectively.     

Why to synthesize vaterite polymorph of calcium carbonate on the cellulose matrix via sonochemistry process?

Vaterite is an important biomedical material due to its features such as high specific surface area, high solubility, high dispersion, and small specific gravity. The purposes of this article were to explore the growth mechanism of vaterite on the cellulose matrix via sonochmistry process. In the work reported herein, the influences of experimental parameters on the polymorph of calcium carbonate were investigated in detail. The calcium carbonate crystals on the cellulose matrix were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Experimental results revealed that all the reactants, solvent, and synthesis method played an important role in the polymorph of calcium carbonate. The pure phase of vaterite polymorph was obtained using Na₂CO₃ as reactant in ethylene glycol on the cellulose matrix via sonochmistry process. Based on the experimental results, one can conclude that the synthesis of vaterite polymorph is a system process.