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Novel oppositely charged polyphosphazene polyelectrolytes containing grafted poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains were synthesized as modular components for the assembly of biodegradable PEGylated protein delivery vehicles. These macromolecular counterparts, which contained either carboxylic acid or tertiary amino groups, were then formulated at near physiological conditions into supramolecular assemblies of nanoscale level, below 100 nm. Nanocomplexes with electroneutral surface charge, as assessed by zeta potential measurements, were stable in aqueous solutions, which suggests their compact polyelectrolyte complex "core"-hydrophilic PEG "shell" structure. Investigation of PEGylated polyphosphazene nanocomplexes as agents for noncovalent PEGylation of the therapeutic protein l-asparaginase (L-ASP) in vitro demonstrated their ability to dramatically reduce protein antigenicity, as measured by antibody binding using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Encapsulation in nanocomplexes did not affect enzymatic activity of L-ASP, but improved its thermal stability and proteolytic resistance. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) experiments revealed that all synthesized polyphosphazenes exhibited composition controlled hydrolytic degradability in aqueous solutions at neutral pH and showed greater stability at lower temperatures. Overall, novel hydrolytically degradable polyphosphazene polyelectrolytes capable of spontaneous self-assembly into PEGylated nanoparticulates in aqueous solutions can potentially enable a simple and effective approach to modifying therapeutic proteins without the need for their covalent modification.

The molecular weight and polydispersity of the chains in a polymer brush are critical parameters determining the brush properties. However, the characterization of polymer brushes is hindered by the vanishingly small mass of polymer present in brush layers. In this study, in order to obtain sufficient quantities of polymer for analysis, polymer brushes were grown from high surface area fibrous nylon membranes by ATRP. The brushes were synthesized with varying surface initiator densities, polymerization times, and amounts of sacrificial initiator, then cleaved from the substrate, and analyzed by GPC and NMR. Characterization showed that the surface-grown polymer chains were more polydisperse and had lower average molecular weight compared to solution-grown polymers synthesized concurrently. Furthermore, the molecular weight distribution of the polymer brushes was observed to be bimodal, with a low molecular weight population of chains representing a significant mass fraction of the polymer chains at high s...

Block copolymers (BCPs) can self-assemble in selective solvents to form morphologies based on their chemistries and architectures. In this study, we investigate BCPs having both brush and linear segments in what is referred to as “toothbrush” architecture. Using anionic polymerization, we have synthesized a linear poly(styrene-block-isoprene) followed by growing poly(ethylene oxide) grafts from the isoprene block to form a brush segment. A combination of nonselective and selective solvents is used to drive the self-assembly of the toothbrush polymers. Analysis by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy show that the self-assembly is highly influenced by the density of grafts in the brush segment, with densely grafted polymers forming only spherical micelles and sparsely grafted brushes forming higher order structures including cylindrical micelles and vesicles. Additionally, calculations of micelle corona graft density and corona thickness indicate that the corona of the micelles for...

A series of biodegradable drug delivery polymers with intrinsic multifunctionality have been designed and synthesized utilizing polyphosphazene macromolecular engineering approach. Novel water-soluble polymers, which contain carboxylic acid and pyrrolidone moieties attached to inorganic phosphorus-nitrogen backbone, were characterized by a suite of physico-chemical methods to confirm their structure, composition, and molecular sizes. All synthesized polyphosphazenes displayed composition dependent hydrolytic degradability in aqueous solutions at neutral pH. Their formulations were stable at lower temperatures, potentially indicating adequate shelf life, but were characterized by accelerated degradation kinetics at elevated temperatures, including 37°C. It was found that synthesized polyphosphazenes are capable of environmentally triggered self-assembly to produce nanoparticles with narrow polydispersity in the size range between 150 and 700 nm. Protein loading capacity of copolymers has been validated via their ability to non-covalently bind avidin without altering its biological functionality. Acid induced membrane disruptive activity of polyphosphazenes has been established with an onset corresponding to endosomal pH range and being dependent on polymer composition. The synthesized polyphosphazenes facilitated cell-surface interaction followed by time-dependent, vesicular mediated, and saturable internalization of a model protein cargo into cancer cells, demonstrating potential for intracellular delivery.

We report the functionalization of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) with polymer chains. These chains are grown by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) from hBN following thermal treatment. When used as a nanofiller, the material shows improved dispersion resulting in significantly improved toughness as compared to pristine hBN without polymer functionalization. The polymer functionalized BN is also characterized by TGA, FTIR and FESEM.