Crystallisation-driven self-assembly of functionalised- poly(caprolactone) block-copolymers Ana Cubillo Alvarez , Maria C. Arno, Andrew P. Dove University of Birmingham, UK
The ability to control the morphology, size and surface chemistry of nanostructures is critical to enhance their bioavailability and biological interactions. (1) Crystallisation-driven self-assembly (CDSA) is a powerful strategy to access a great variety of well-defined 1D and 2D nanostructures from amphiphilic block copolymers (BCPs). However, the design of non-spherical nanoparticles with functionalities attached to their hydrophobic core remains a challenge within the CDSA field, as most of the conventional semi-crystalline polymers lack functional anchor points. Although conventional poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) is a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer, its application in drug delivery systems is limited due to the lack of functional moieties in its structure, impairing drug attachment. (2) In addition, the modification of the cyclic monomer ɛ-caprolactone (ɛCL) often yields to amorphous polymers with no retained crystallisation. To overcome these challenges, we investigated the ring- opening polymerisation (ROP) of functional ɛCL to yield polymers with retained crystallinity and pendent functional groups, allowing for post-polymerisation modifications. After obtaining amphiphilic block copolymers through the polymerisation of a hydrophilic arm, their self-assembly through CDSA was investigated to form 1D cylindrical micelles and 2D platelets nanostructures. References
1. Blanco, H. Shen and M. Ferrari, Nat. Biotechnol. , 2015, 33 , 941-951. 2. Arno, M.C., Inam, M. et al. Am. Chem. Soc. ,2017, 46 , 16980-16985.
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