Open AccessRapid detection of polyethylene glycol sonolysis upon functionalization of carbon nanomaterials
Author(s) -
Vasanth Siruvallur Murali,
Ruhung Wang,
Carole Mikoryak,
Paul Pantano,
Rockford K. Draper
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
experimental biology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1535-3702
pISSN - 1535-3699
DOI - 10.1177/1535370214567615
Subject(s) - sonication , polyethylene glycol , peg ratio , sonochemistry , degradation (telecommunications) , surface modification , nanomaterials , chemistry , polymer , chromatography , nanotechnology , materials science , organic chemistry , computer science , telecommunications , finance , economics
Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and related polymers are often used in the functionalization of carbon nanomaterials in procedures that involve sonication. However, PEG is very sensitive to sonolytic degradation and PEG degradation products can be toxic to mammalian cells. Thus, it is imperative to assess potential PEG degradation to ensure that the final material does not contain undocumented contaminants that can introduce artifacts into experimental results. Described here is a simple and inexpensive polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis method to detect the sonolytic degradation of PEG. The method was used to monitor the integrity of PEG phospholipid constructs and branched chain PEGs after different sonication times. This approach not only helps detect degraded PEG, but should also facilitate rapid screening of sonication parameters to find optimal conditions that minimize PEG damage.