Surface-initiated polymerization within mesoporous silica spheres for the modular design of charge-neutral polymer particles

Markus Müllner, Jiwei Cui, Ka Fung Noi, Sylvia T. Gunawan, Frank Caruso

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

30 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report a templating approach for the preparation of functional polymer replica particles via surface-initiated polymerization in mesoporous silica templates. Subsequent removal of the template resulted in discrete polymer particles. Furthermore, redox-responsive replica particles could be engineered to disassemble in a reducing environment. Particles, made of poly(methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) (PMPC) or poly[oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate] (POEGMA), exhibited very low association to human cancer cells (below 5%), which renders the reported charge-neutral polymer particles a modular and versatile class of highly functional carriers with potential applications in drug delivery. 

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6286-6293
Number of pages8
JournalLangmuir
Volume30
Issue number21
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Jun 2014
Externally publishedYes

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