Search

Highlights • Carboxylated cellulose-g-poly(l -lactide) copolymers were synthesized. • The amphiphilic copolymers improved the organic solubility of CCNs. • The copolymers were self-assembled into nanoparticles for oleanolic acid delivery. • The nanoparticles improved the drug solubility and prolonged the drug release. • The nanoparticles maintained the cell inhibition and enhanced antitumor efficiency. Abstract Carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals (CCNs), as one of nanocellulose are promising hydrophilic biomass materials for drug delivery. In this work, a series of amphiphilic carboxylated cellulose-graft-Poly(L-lactide) (CC-g-PLLA) copolymers were synthesized via ring-opening polymerization (ROP) method. The copolymers were characterized by 1H-NMR, FT-IR, WXRD and TGA, and their solubility in organic solvents was improved. Then, these amphiphilic copolymers were self-assembled into nanoparticles for delivery of anticancer drug oleanolic acid (OA). The copolymer (DS PLLA 2.03) nanoparticles displayed the smallest size (196.82 ± 9.14 nm) and the highest drug loading efficiency (24.76 ± 0.58%). The nanoparticles exhibited a spherical shape, well water solubility of OA (16.9 mg/mL) and a prolonged drug release (120 h). In vitro and In vivo study indicated that the nanoparticles maintained cytotoxicity to 4T1 cells and MCF-7 cells and displayed high antitumor efficiency. The amphiphilic CC-g-PLLA copolymer nanoparticles provide a novel platform for drug delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A carbon-coated liquid metal nanoparticles anode is successfully prepared. • The excellent morphology and electrochemical performance of carbon-coated liquid metal nanoparticles are reported. • The carbon layer can alleviate the volume effect and inhibit the mutual fusion. Ga-based liquid metal has been reported as a self-healing anode for lithium-ion batteries due to their good fluidity and surface tension. However, the materials still face the challenge of poor long-term stability due to mutual fusion and volume expansion. In this work, the pristine liquid metal nanoparticles (LMNPs) are prepared by the ultrasonic stirring method. And then polydopamine-coated LMNPs (LMNPs@PDA) is obtained by the polymerization of dopamine. Finally, the carbon-coated LMNPs (LMNPs@C) are obtained by annealing under an Ar atmosphere. The carbon layer can efficiently alleviate the volume effect and prevent the mutual fusion of LMNPs@C maintaining its high specific surface area and capacity. The LMNPs@C anode achieves the initial capacity of 959.9 mAh g−1 and a discharge capacity of 452.1 mAh g−1 at 0.2 A g−1 after 100 cycles. Besides, under the current density of 5 A g−1, the LMNPs@C anode still maintains the discharge capacity of 185 mAh g−1. Moreover, the LMNPs@C anode maintains a low R ct and a high lithium-ion diffusion coefficient due to the carbon layer equipping good conductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]