Thermally activated reversible shape switch of polymer particles
2014
Gong, Tao | Zhao, Kun | Wang, Wenxi | Chen, Hongmei | Wang, Lin | Zhou, Shaobing
The particles that can reversibly switch shape in response to an environmental stimulus are preferable for controlling the performance of drug carriers. In this work, we present a facile strategy towards the design and fabrication of polymer particles that can reversibly switch their shape on the basis of a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer network containing well-defined six-arm poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(ε-caprolactone) (6A PEG-PCL). These polymer particles have a capacity of reversibly changing shape from spherical to elliptical either extracellularly or intracellularly with the cyclic heating and cooling between 43 °C and 0 °C under a stress-free condition via a reversible two-way shape memory effect (2W-SME) of a polymer matrix. This study of the shape-switching particles opens up exciting possibilities for engineering dynamically shape-switching drug delivery carriers to either avoid or promote phagocytosis.
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]