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Efficient production of uniform nanometer‐sized polymer vesicles in stirred‐tank reactors
Author(s) -
Poschenrieder Sarah Theresa,
Wagner Sabine Gabriele,
Castiglione Kathrin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.43274
Subject(s) - polymersome , dispersity , materials science , dynamic light scattering , polymer , chemical engineering , copolymer , vesicle , amphiphile , nanometre , particle size , nanotechnology , polymer chemistry , nanoparticle , chemistry , composite material , membrane , biochemistry , engineering
ABSTRACT Polymer vesicles, so‐called polymersomes, gain more and more attention as potential carriers for medical and biotechnological applications. To put the production of these nanocompartments into action at an industrial scale, an efficient and scalable process has to be established. Moreover, being able to control the resulting particle size distribution (PSD) is vital. In this work, the amphiphilic triblock copolymer poly(2‐methyloxazoline) 15 –poly(dimethylsiloxane) 68 –poly(2‐methyloxazoline) 15 is formed into polymersomes in miniaturized stirred‐tank reactors. Varying flow conditions have a huge impact on the resulting PSD. Dynamic light scattering measurements show that driving a S‐shaped stirrer at 4000 rpm in unbaffled reactors leads to a monomodal PSD with a low polydispersity index (PDI<0.2). Vesicles with a mean diameter of 200 nm are achieved within less than 1 h in a single production step. The robustness of the established process is shown by producing uniform polymersomes at different temperatures and varying pH and buffer molarities. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133 , 43274.