Showing papers by "L. Andrew Lyon published in 2006"
147 citations
TL;DR: Investigations of insulin release from thermoresponsive microgels using variable temperature (1)H NMR studies suggest that the swelling loading method results in enhanced entrapment of the peptide versus equilibrium partitioning.
89 citations
TL;DR: A review of the recent advances in the marriage between water-swellable networks and nanoscience can be found in this paper, where the authors present some of the most important advances in this area.
Abstract: The last decade of research in the physical sciences has seen a dramatic increase in the study of nanoscale materials. Today, "nanoscience" has emerged as a multidisciplinary effort, wherein obtaining a fundamental understanding of the optical, electrical, magnetic, and mechanical properties of nanostructures promises to deliver the next generation of functional materials for a wide range of applications. While this range of efforts is extremely broad, much of the work has focused on "hard" materials, such as Buckyballs, carbon nanotubes, metals, semiconductors, and organic or inorganic dielectrics. Meanwhile, the soft materials of current interest typically include conducting or emissive polymers for "plastic electronics" applications. Despite the continued interest in these established areas of nanoscience, new classes of soft nanomaterials are being developed from more traditional polymeric constructs. Specifically, nanostructured hydrogels are emerging as a promising group of materials for multiple biotechnology applications as the need for advanced materials in the post-genomic era grows. This review will present some of the recent advances in the marriage between water-swellable networks and nanoscience.
82 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a core-and shell-grafted poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAm) core/shell particles bearing primary amine groups in either core or shell were prepared via two-stage, free radical precipitation polymerization, using 2-aminoethyl methacrylate (AEMA) as a comonomer.
Abstract: Thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAm) core/shell particles bearing primary amine groups in either core or shell were prepared via two-stage, free radical precipitation polymerization, using 2-aminoethyl methacrylate (AEMA) as a comonomer. The amine groups were then used to initiate ring-opening polymerization of γ-benzyl L-glutamate N-carboxyanhydride (BLG-NCA), producing poly(γ-benzyl L-glutamate) (PBLG) side chains covalently anchored to the particles. Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (PCS) and 1H NMR were employed to characterize these particles. A shift of phase transition to a lower temperature and an increase in particle des welling volume ratios were observed as a result of grafting hydrophobic PBLG chains to the particles. Further studies by 1H NMR in different solvents indicate that the PBLG chains grafted from the particle shell phase separate on the pNIPAm networks in aqueous media but remain well solvated in DMSO. Together, these results suggest that both core- and shell-grafted architectures can be synthesized with equal ease, and that the particle structure and colloidal behavior can be manipulated by tuning the relative solubility of the network and graft portions of the particle.
8 citations