Issue 2, 2020

Self-crosslinking assemblies with tunable nanostructures from photoresponsive polypeptoid-based block copolymers

Abstract

Photoresponsive polymers have been receiving tremendous attention for many applications. Here, we report a new family of photoresponsive polypeptoid-based diblock copolymers PEG-b-poly(N-(S-(o-nitrobenzyl)-thioethyl) glycine) (PEG-b-PNSN) by ring-opening polymerization (ROP). The polymerization is well-controlled and a series of copolymers have been obtained with narrow polydispersity. We demonstrate that the cleavage degree of the o-nitrobenzyl (NB) group can reach 73% with the irradiation time increasing up to 6 hours. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of photoresponsive polypeptoids prepared by ROP. Depending on the chain length of PNSN, the PEG-b-PNSN diblock copolymers can self-assemble into various morphologies, including spheres, short cylinders and vesicles. More importantly, the thiol groups generated by UV-irradiation can be spontaneously oxidized into disulfide bonds, which behave as cross-linkers to stabilize the nanostructures with constant morphologies. Furthermore, this oxidation process is reversible in the presence of the reductive reagent glutathione (GSH), resulting in reversible self-crosslinking assemblies. The obtained photoresponsive polypeptoid copolymers are ideal candidates for smart polymeric materials in applications of nanomedicine and nanotechnology.

Graphical abstract: Self-crosslinking assemblies with tunable nanostructures from photoresponsive polypeptoid-based block copolymers

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 رجب 1440
Accepted
10 شعبان 1440
First published
10 شعبان 1440

Polym. Chem., 2020,11, 337-343

Self-crosslinking assemblies with tunable nanostructures from photoresponsive polypeptoid-based block copolymers

J. Wei, J. Sun, X. Yang, S. Ji, Y. Wei and Z. Li, Polym. Chem., 2020, 11, 337 DOI: 10.1039/C9PY00385A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements