Synthesis and Characterization of Chitosan-grafl-Poly（lactic acid） Copolymer

Chitosan-graft-poly(lactic acid)(CS-g-PLA) copolymer was synthesized through emulsion self-assembly in a water-in-oil(W/O) microemulsion. The water phase was composed of CS aqueous solution, while the oil phase was made up of PLA in chloroform. The W/O microemulsion was fabricated in the presence of surfactant span-80 and the self-assembly was performed between PLA and CS under the effect of N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N′-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride(EDC·HCl). FTIR and1H-NMR analysis indicated PLA was grafted onto the backbone of CS via the reaction between the carboxyl groups in PLA and the amino groups in CS.1H-NMR characterization further revealed the grafting content of PLA was 16%. The obtained CS-g-PLA could self-assemble to form micelles, their size distributed in the range of 125 375 nm with average diameter of 142 nm. The present design integrates the favorable biological properties of CS and the excellent mechanical properties of PLA, which makes CS-g-PLA copolymer a promising candidate as a carrier for targeted bioactive molecules delivery.