Nanoparticles from Chitosan

Novel biodegradable nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical modification of the chitosan linear chain. A natural dicarboxylic acid (malic acid) was used as a crosslinking agent for intramolecular covalent condensation reaction to obtain hydrophilic nanoparticles based on chitosan. A variety of methods including, solubility studies, laser light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to characterize the crosslinked macromolecules. The prepared biodegradable chitosan nanoparticles, soluble in aqueous media, might be useful for various biomedical applications, like injectable drug- or gene-delivery systems.