Dual-responsive nanogels based on oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylates and acidic co-monomers

MACCHIONE, MICAELA A.; SACARELLI, M. FLORENCIA; RACCA, ANA C.; BIGLIONE, CATALINA; PANZETTA-DUTARI, GRACIELA M.; STRUMIA, MIRIAM C.

SOFT MATTER

ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY

Lugar: CAMBRIDGE; Año: 2019

1744-683X

thylene glycol-based nanogels (NGs) have demonstrated their potential for the development of nextgenerationformulations for biomedical applications due to their interesting properties. In this work,monodispersed NGs based on oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylates (OEG) were synthesized through free radicalprecipitation/dispersion polymerization assisted by ultrasonication. Di(ethylene glycol)methyl ether methacrylate(DEGMA) and oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (OEGMA; Mn 475 g mol1) were used as the main monomers,acrylic acid (AA) or itaconic acid (IA) as co-monomers (OEG-co-AA and OEG-co-IA, respectively) andtetraethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) as crosslinker. The physicochemical properties of OEG-co-AAand OEG-co-IA NGs were studied including hydrodynamic diameter, poly-dispersity index, zeta potential andpH/temperature responsiveness. Samples with 4 mol% of both AA and IA showed nanometric sizes. Regardingtheir thermo-responsiveness, unexpected differences between NGs with