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Zeng Y, Xu T, Chen W, Fang J, Chen D. Quasi-Chromophores Segregated by Single-Chain Nanoparticles of Fluorinated Zwitterionic Random Copolymers Showing Remarkably Enhanced Fluorescence Emission Capable of Fluorescent Cell Imaging. Macromol Rapid Commun 2024:e2400029. [PMID: 38477018 DOI: 10.1002/marc.202400029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2024] [Revised: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024]
Abstract
Organic and polymer fluorescent nanomaterials are a frontier research focus. Here in this work, a series of fluorinated zwitterionic random copolymers end-attached with a quasi-chromophoric group of pyrene or tetraphenylethylene (TPE) are well synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization with activators regenerated by electron transfer (ARGET ATRP). Those random copolymers with total degree of polymerization 100 or 200 are able to produce fluorescent single-chain nanoparticles (SCNPs) through intra-chain self-folding assembly with quite uniform diameters in the range of 10-20 nm as characterized by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. By virtue of the segregation or confinement effect, both SCNPs functionalized with pyrene or TPE group are capable of emitting fluorescence, with pyrene tethered SCNPs exhibiting stronger fluorescence emission reaching the highest quantum yield ≈20%. Moreover, such kind of fluorescent SCNPs manifest low cytotoxicity and good cell imaging performance for Hela cells. The creation of fluorescent SCNPs through covalently attached one quasi-chromophore to the end of one fluorinated zwitterionic random copolymer provides an alternative strategy for preparing polymeric luminescence nanomaterials, promisingly serving as a new type of fluorescent nanoprobes for biological imaging applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongming Zeng
- Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology of Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Tianchi Xu
- Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology of Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Weizhi Chen
- Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology of Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Jianglin Fang
- Center for Materials Analysis, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Dongzhong Chen
- Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology of Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
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2
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Delledonne A, Guazzelli E, Pescina S, Bianchera A, Galli G, Martinelli E, Sissa C. Amphiphilic Fluorinated Unimer Micelles as Nanocarriers of Fluorescent Probes for Bioimaging. ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS 2023; 6:15551-15562. [PMID: 37706068 PMCID: PMC10496108 DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.3c02300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023]
Abstract
The unique self-assembly properties of unimer micelles are exploited for the preparation of fluorescent nanocarriers embedding hydrophobic fluorophores. Unimer micelles are constituted by a (meth)acrylate copolymer with oligoethyleneglycol and perflurohexylethyl side chains (PEGMA90-co-FA10) in which the hydrophilic and hydrophobic comonomers are statistically distributed along the polymeric backbone. Thanks to hydrophobic interactions in water, the amphiphilic copolymer forms small nanoparticles (<10 nm), with tunable properties and functionality. An easy procedure for the encapsulation of a small hydrophobic molecule (C153 fluorophore) within unimer micelles is presented. UV-vis, fluorescence, and fluorescence anisotropy spectroscopic experimental data demonstrate that the fluorophore is effectively embedded in the nanocarriers. Moreover, the nanocarrier positively contributes to preserve the good emissive properties of the fluorophore in water. The efficacy of the dye-loaded nanocarrier as a fluorescent probe is tested in two-photon imaging of thick ex vivo porcine scleral tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Delledonne
- Dipartimento
di Scienze Chimiche, della Vita e della Sostenibilità Ambientale, Università di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17A, 43124 Parma, Italy
| | - Elisa Guazzelli
- Dipartimento
di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Università
di Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Silvia Pescina
- ADDRes
Lab, Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti e del Farmaco, Università di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27A, 43124 Parma, Italy
| | - Annalisa Bianchera
- ADDRes
Lab, Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti e del Farmaco, Università di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27A, 43124 Parma, Italy
| | - Giancarlo Galli
- Dipartimento
di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Università
di Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Elisa Martinelli
- Dipartimento
di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Università
di Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy
- Centro
per la Integrazione Della Strumentazione Dell’Università
di Pisa (CISUP), Lungarno
Pacinotti 43/44, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Cristina Sissa
- Dipartimento
di Scienze Chimiche, della Vita e della Sostenibilità Ambientale, Università di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17A, 43124 Parma, Italy
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3
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Calosi M, Guazzelli E, Braccini S, Lessi M, Bellina F, Galli G, Martinelli E. Self-Assembled Amphiphilic Fluorinated Random Copolymers for the Encapsulation and Release of the Hydrophobic Combretastatin A-4 Drug. Polymers (Basel) 2022; 14:polym14040774. [PMID: 35215686 PMCID: PMC8880340 DOI: 10.3390/polym14040774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/12/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Water-soluble amphiphilic random copolymers composed of tri(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (TEGMA) or poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA) and perfluorohexylethyl acrylate (FA) were synthesized by ARGET-ATRP, and their self-assembling and thermoresponsive behavior in water was studied by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and UV-vis spectroscopy. The copolymer ability to self-fold in single-chain nano-sized structures (unimer micelles) in aqueous solutions was exploited to encapsulate Combretastatin A-4 (CA-4), which is a very hydrophobic anticancer drug. The cloud point temperature (Tcp) was found to linearly decrease with increasing drug concentration in the drug/copolymer system. Moreover, while CA-4 was preferentially incorporated into the unimer micelles of TEGMA-ran-FA, the drug was found to induce multi-chain, submicro-sized aggregation of PEGMA-ran-FA. Anyway, the encapsulation efficiency was very high (≥81%) for both copolymers. The drug release was evaluated in PBS aqueous solutions both below and above Tcp for TEGMA-ran-FA copolymer and below Tcp, but at two different drug loadings, for PEGMA-ran-FA copolymer. In any case, the release kinetics presented similar profiles, characterized by linear trends up to ≈10–13 h and ≈7 h for TEGMA-ran-FA and PEGMA-ran-FA, respectively. Then, the release rate decreased, reaching a plateau. The release from TEGMA-ran-FA was moderately faster above Tcp than below Tcp, suggesting that copolymer thermoresponsiveness increased the release rate, which occurred anyway by diffusion below Tcp. Cytotoxicity tests were carried out on copolymer solutions in a wide concentration range (5–60 mg/mL) at 37 °C by using Balb/3T3 clone A31 cells. Interestingly, it was found that the concentration-dependent micro-sized aggregation of the amphiphilic random copolymers above Tcp caused a sort of “cellular asphyxiation” with a loss of cell viability clearly visible for TEGMA-ran-FA solutions (Tcp below 37 °C) with higher copolymer concentrations. On the other hand, cells in contact with the analogous PEGMA-ran-FA (Tcp above 37 °C) presented a very good viability (≥75%) with respect to the control at any given concentration.
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4
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Guazzelli E, Masotti E, Calosi M, Kriechbaum M, Uhlig F, Galli G, Martinelli E. Single-chain folding and self-assembling of amphiphilic polyethyleneglycol-modified fluorinated styrene homopolymers in water solution. POLYMER 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2021.124107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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5
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Shibata M, Terashima T, Koga T. Thermoresponsive Gelation of Amphiphilic Random Copolymer Micelles in Water. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Motoki Shibata
- Department of Polymer Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan
| | - Takaya Terashima
- Department of Polymer Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan
| | - Tsuyoshi Koga
- Department of Polymer Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan
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Investigation of the LCST-Thermoresponsive Behavior of Novel Oligo(Ethylene Glycol)-Modified Pentafluorostyrene Homopolymers. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/app11062711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Amphiphilic tetrafluorostyrene monomers (EFS8) carrying in the para position an oligoethylene glycol chain containing 8 oxyethylenic units on average were synthesized and used for preparation via activator regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET-ATRP) of the corresponding amphiphilic homopolymers (pEFS8-x) with different degrees of polymerization (x = 26 and 46). Combining light transmittance and nano-differential scanning calorimetry (n-DSC) measurements revealed that pEFS8-x homopolymers displayed a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) thermoresponsive behavior in water solutions. Moreover, n-DSC measurements revealed the presence in heating scans of a broad endothermic peak ascribable to the dehydration process of the polymer single chains (unimers) and their collapse into aggregates. Consistently, dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements showed below the LCST the presence of small nanostructures with a hydrodynamic diameter size Dh of 6–7 nm, which collapsed into concentration-dependent larger multichain aggregates (Dh = 300–3000 nm) above LCST. Interestingly, n-DSC data showed that the unimer-aggregate transition was reversible up to a specific temperature (Trev) of each homopolymer, which in any case was higher than Tmax. When heating above Trev the transition was no longer reversible, causing the shift of Tonset and Tmax at lower values, thus suggesting an increase in hydrophobicity of the polymer systems associated with a temperature-dependent dehydration process.
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7
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Amphiphilic hydrolyzable polydimethylsiloxane-b-poly(ethyleneglycol methacrylate-co-trialkylsilyl methacrylate) block copolymers for marine coatings. I. Synthesis, hydrolysis and surface wettability. POLYMER 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2019.121954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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8
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Martini F, Guazzelli E, Martinelli E, Borsacchi S, Geppi M, Galli G. Molecular Dynamics of Amphiphilic Random Copolymers in the Bulk: A
1
H and
19
F NMR Relaxometry Study. MACROMOL CHEM PHYS 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/macp.201900177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Martini
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale Università di Pisa via G. Moruzzi 13 56124 Pisa Italy
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche–CNR Istituto di Chimica dei Composti OrganoMetallici Sede Secondaria di Pisa via G. Moruzzi 1 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Elisa Guazzelli
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale Università di Pisa via G. Moruzzi 13 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Elisa Martinelli
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale Università di Pisa via G. Moruzzi 13 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Silvia Borsacchi
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche–CNR Istituto di Chimica dei Composti OrganoMetallici Sede Secondaria di Pisa via G. Moruzzi 1 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Marco Geppi
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale Università di Pisa via G. Moruzzi 13 56124 Pisa Italy
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche–CNR Istituto di Chimica dei Composti OrganoMetallici Sede Secondaria di Pisa via G. Moruzzi 1 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Giancarlo Galli
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale Università di Pisa via G. Moruzzi 13 56124 Pisa Italy
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9
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Varejão JOS, Varejão EVV, Fernandes SA. Synthesis and Derivatization of Julolidine: A Powerful Heterocyclic Structure. European J Org Chem 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ejoc.201900398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jodieh Oliveira Santana Varejão
- Grupo de Química Supramolecular e Biomimética (GQSB); Departamento de Química; Universidade Federal de Viçosa; 36570-900 Brazil
| | - Eduardo Vinícius Vieira Varejão
- Grupo de Química Supramolecular e Biomimética (GQSB); Departamento de Química; Universidade Federal de Viçosa; 36570-900 Brazil
| | - Sergio Antonio Fernandes
- Grupo de Química Supramolecular e Biomimética (GQSB); Departamento de Química; Universidade Federal de Viçosa; 36570-900 Brazil
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10
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Surface Segregation of Amphiphilic PDMS-Based Films Containing Terpolymers with Siloxane, Fluorinated and Ethoxylated Side Chains. COATINGS 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/coatings9030153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
(Meth)acrylic terpolymers carrying siloxane (Si), fluoroalkyl (F) and ethoxylated (EG) side chains were synthesized with comparable molar compositions and different lengths of the Si and EG side chains, while the length of the fluorinated side chain was kept constant. Such terpolymers were used as surface-active modifiers of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based films with a loading of 4 wt%. The surface chemical compositions of both the films and the pristine terpolymers were determined by angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AR-XPS) at different photoemission angles. The terpolymer was effectively segregated to the polymer−air interface of the films independent of the length of the constituent side chains. However, the specific details of the film surface modification depended upon the chemical structure of the terpolymer itself. The exceptionally high enrichment in F chains at the surface caused the accumulation of EG chains at the surface as well. The response of the films to the water environment was also proven to strictly depend on the type of terpolymer contained. While terpolymers with shorter EG chains appeared not to be affected by immersion in water for seven days, those containing longer EG chains underwent a massive surface reconstruction.
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11
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Guazzelli E, Martinelli E, Galli G, Cupellini L, Jurinovich S, Mennucci B. Single-chain self-folding in an amphiphilic copolymer: An integrated experimental and computational study. POLYMER 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2018.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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12
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Liu S, Luo X, Liu S, Xu P, Wang J, Hu Y. Acetazolamide-Loaded pH-Responsive Nanoparticles Alleviating Tumor Acidosis to Enhance Chemotherapy Effects. Macromol Biosci 2018; 19:e1800366. [PMID: 30511819 DOI: 10.1002/mabi.201800366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2018] [Revised: 11/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX), over-expressed on cancer cells, catalyzes CO2 to bicarbonate and protons, contributing to the acidic extracellular pH (pHe), which enhances the multidrug resistance of tumor cells. Therefore, alleviating tumor acidosis would greatly improve the outcome of chemotherapy. This work fabricates acetazolamide (ACE)-loaded pH-responsive nanoparticles (ACE-NPs), which are quickly disintegrated in an acidic solution (pH 6.8), resulting in a quick release of ACE from these NPs to inhibit the expression of CA IX, thus up-regulating the pHe value. These ACE-NPs have no obvious in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo studies confirm the accumulation of ACE-NPs in tumor tissue. In addition, mice treated with ACE and paclitaxel (PTX) co-loaded NPs show a smaller tumor size and a higher survival rate when compared to that of mice treated with ACE- or PTX-loaded NPs. This work reveals that simultaneous delivery of ACE and chemotherapy agents to tumor tissue can up-regulate the acidic pHe value, consequently enhancing the anti-tumor ability of chemotherapy medicine. These findings open a new window for enhancing the anti-tumor ability of traditional chemotherapy in clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sen Liu
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University, Shenzhen, 518057, China.,College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Xingyu Luo
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University, Shenzhen, 518057, China.,College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Shiyi Liu
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University, Shenzhen, 518057, China.,College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Peipei Xu
- Department of Hematology, Drum Tower Hospital, School of Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210093, China
| | - Jianquan Wang
- College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Yong Hu
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University, Shenzhen, 518057, China.,College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
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13
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Julolidine-labelled fluorinated block copolymers for the development of two-layer films with highly sensitive vapochromic response. Sci China Chem 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s11426-018-9302-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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14
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Martinelli E, Guazzelli E, Galli G, Telling MTF, Poggetto GD, Immirzi B, Domenici F, Paradossi G. Prolate and Temperature-Responsive Self-Assemblies of Amphiphilic Random Copolymers with Perfluoroalkyl and Polyoxyethylene Side Chains in Solution. MACROMOL CHEM PHYS 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/macp.201800210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Martinelli
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale; Università di Pisa; 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Elisa Guazzelli
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale; Università di Pisa; 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Giancarlo Galli
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale; Università di Pisa; 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Mark T. F. Telling
- STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; Chilton OX11 0QX UK
- Department of Materials; University of Oxford; Parks Road Oxford UK
| | | | - Barbara Immirzi
- Istituto per i Polimeri Compositi e Biomateriali; CNR; 80078 Pozzuoli Italy
| | - Fabio Domenici
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche; Università di Roma Tor Vergata; 000133 Roma Italy
| | - Gaio Paradossi
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche; Università di Roma Tor Vergata; 000133 Roma Italy
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15
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Martinelli E, Annunziata L, Guazzelli E, Pucci A, Biver T, Galli G. The Temperature-Responsive Nanoassemblies of Amphiphilic Random Copolymers Carrying Poly(siloxane) and Poly(oxyethylene) Pendant Chains. MACROMOL CHEM PHYS 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/macp.201800082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Martinelli
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale; Università di Pisa; 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Luisa Annunziata
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale; Università di Pisa; 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Elisa Guazzelli
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale; Università di Pisa; 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Andrea Pucci
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale; Università di Pisa; 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Tarita Biver
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale; Università di Pisa; 56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Giancarlo Galli
- Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale; Università di Pisa; 56124 Pisa Italy
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