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

M Müllner; J Cui; KF Noi; ST Gunawan; F Caruso

Journal article

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

M Müllner, J Cui, KF Noi, ST Gunawan, F Caruso

Langmuir | AMER CHEMICAL SOC | Published : 2014

DOI: 10.1021/la501324r

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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..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Frank Caruso Author

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Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

M.M. acknowledges The University of Melbourne for a McKenzie Fellowship. J.C. is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Super Science (FS110200025). This work was supported by the Australian Research Council under the Australian Laureate Fellowship (F.C., 120100030) and the Super Science Fellowship (F.C., FS110200025) schemes.