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Description
Poly(2-oxazoline)s are biocompatible polymers featuring high copolymerization versatility and low in-vivo immunogenicity [1]. Thus, the system has potential in biomedical applications. While linear poly(2-oxazoline) homo- and block copolymers have been amply studied, studies on molecular brushes from poly(2-oxazoline)s are still scarce [2, 3]. In the present study, we investigate molecular brushes, in which poly(2-oxazoline)s with methyl or n-butyl side groups (namely PMeOx, hydrophilic and PBuOx, hydrophobic) were densely grafted onto a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) backbone. The backbone is either linear or has a star-shaped multi-arm configuration. The grafted chains are PBuOx-co-PMeOx diblock copolymer with the PBuOx ends connected to the backbone. The star-shaped brushes were investigated in dilute aqueous solution using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). This way, the size and shape of the molecules was determined. Our preliminary results show that an increased backbone-to-sidechain length ratio will lead to elongated brush shapes.
References:
[1] T. X. Viegas, M. D. Bentley et al., Bioconjugate Chem., 2011, 22, 976.
[2] J.-J. Kang, C. M. Papadakis et al., Colloid Polym. Sci., 2021, 299, 193.
[3] J.-J. Kang, C. M. Papadakis et al., Langmuir, 2022, 38, 5226.
