Polyoxazolines with High Surface Activity for Smart Self-Assembled Surfactants
발표자
김세영 (단국대학교)
연구책임자
김세영 (단국대학교)
공동저자
김세영 (단국대학교), 김신철 (단국대학교), 김다혜 (단국대학교)
초록
내용
Polyoxazolines possess great potential for smart biomaterials due to their high tunability in physicochemical properties and reduced immunogenicity compared to the commonly used polyethylene glycol (PEG). Among many advantages, we focus on polyoxazolines with tunable surface activity to derive surfactant nanoparticles that can treat dysfunctional lungs. We explore the characteristics of polyoxazolines with ethyl and isopropyl side-chains and their copolymers. Then we examine amphiphilic diblock copolymers comprising poly(isopropyl-ran-ethyl) oxazoline (PiPEOx) block. The quality of amphiphilic self-assembly depended on the miscibility between PiPEOx and the hydrophobic block as well as the (absence of) crystallinity of PiPEOx. The optimized self-assembled micelles exhibit good aqueous stability and preference to adsorption at air/water interfaces, which marks PiPEOx as a key component for potential biomaterials targeting respiratory distress syndromes.