In situ glyco-nanostructure formulation via photo-polymerization induced self-assembly

Abstract

Frequently, the classical self-assembly techniques applied to amphiphilic glycopolymers lead to primitive morphologies, i.e. spherical micelles/nanoparticles. Herein, we report a facile and rapid one-pot synthesis and self-assembly of grafted amphiphilic glycopolymers using photo-initiated Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly (Photo-PISA) under UV-irradiation at room temperature. Such glycopolymers were based on dextran as a hydrophilic steric stabilizer backbone and poly(hydroxypropyl methacrylate) PHPMA as a hydrophobic graft. Transmission electron microscopy and light scattering analysis reveal the formation of a broad set of advanced glyco-nanostructures ranging from spherical micelles to worm-like micelles and vesicles depending on both the PHPMA graft length and the solids content.