pH and redox responsive hydrogels and nanogels made from poly (2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)

pH and redox responsive hydrogels and nanogels made from poly (2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)

Legros, C., De Pauw-Gillet, M. C., Tam, K. C., Lecommmandoux, S., & Taton, D.

Polymer Chemistry 4.17 (2013): 4801-4808.

Hydrogels and nanogels made from partially hydrolyzed poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx) were prepared by two different processes. First, both hydrogels and nanogels were made in dilute media in the presence of 1,6-hexanediol di-glycidyl ether (1) as the cross-linker. Alternatively, the PEtOx precursor was engineered into nanogels by an inverse w/o emulsion process. In the latter case, in addition to cross-linker 1, a cleavable cross-linker homologue (2), namely 1,6-hydroxyethyl disulfide-bis-di-glycidyl ether, was used to produce cleavable nanogels. The pH-responsiveness of all cross-linked PEtOx derivatives was demonstrated in an acidic environment, owing to the protonation of residual ethylene imine groups and/or tertiary amines formed during the cross-linking reaction. Nanogels derived from cross-linker 2 could readily be cleaved under a reducing environment, due to the presence of disulfide linkages at the cross-linking points.

pH-and-redox-responsive-hydrogels-and-nanogels-made-from-poly-2-ethyl-2-oxazoline

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