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Preparation of pH-responsive poly(methyl methacrylate) nanoparticles with CO2-triggered aggregation

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Abstract

Healthcare industry is one of the major consumers of surface-modified polymer nanoparticles (NPs). If an incorporation of the stimuli-responsive polymers to such NPs is achieved, it can potentially broaden the range of their applications tremendously. In this work, an emulsifying ability of poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) and a series of its random methyl methacrylate (MMA) copolymers (PMAA-co-PMMA) prepared by free-radical polymerization was studied. It was found that these random copolymers and PMAA homopolymer could act as the surfactants (at certain pH values) in aqueous emulsion polymerization of MMA, which produces spherical PMMA NPs with carboxylic groups on the particles' surface. With the help of 1H NMR analysis it was determined that the PMMA NPs synthesized in this manner had 9.6 wt% PMAA (or PMAA-co-PMMA) coating, and due to that, the aqueous dispersions of these NPs exhibited pH-responsiveness. Although all the dispersions prepared were pH-responsive, only PMAA15-co-PMMA85/PMMA latex was found to be CO2-responsive: this sample could undergo CO2-triggered aggregation and N2-triggered redispersion. This newly developed method of preparation of smart NPs functionalized with carboxylic acid groups is uncomplicated and provides an environmentally friendly way of adjusting the dispersions' properties using gases only, avoiding the necessity of acids and bases addition.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, under contract MOST 107-2221-E-390-010-MY3 and MOST 110-2221-E-390-002.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National University of Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung, 81148, Taiwan

    Wei-Xiang Hong, Vladislav Y. Shevtsov & Yeong-Tarng Shieh

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  1. Wei-Xiang Hong
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  2. Vladislav Y. Shevtsov
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  3. Yeong-Tarng Shieh
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Correspondence to Yeong-Tarng Shieh.

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Hong, WX., Shevtsov, V.Y. & Shieh, YT. Preparation of pH-responsive poly(methyl methacrylate) nanoparticles with CO2-triggered aggregation. J Polym Res 29, 345 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-022-03202-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-022-03202-3

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