• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.542-544
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• 2005

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.544-548
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• 2008

The objective of this study is to obtain the anti-oxidant nanoparticles based on biocompatible polymers. It was chosen to conjugate with chitosan as the biodegradable polymer and lipoic acid as the hydrophobic anti-oxidant. Lipoic acid helps the regeneration of exogenous and endogenous anti-oxidants vitamin as well as glutathione and hence acts as antioxidant indirectly. Chitosan was prepared from chitin which was deacetylated under alkali solution for the various reaction time. Lipoic acid-chitosan complex was confirmed by $^1H$-NMR. The critical aggregation concentration was measured using pyrene and the values were about $5{\times}10^{-3}$ g/L. The particle shapes and sizes of the chitosan-lipoic acid nano-particles were about 135 nm that measured by DLS and TEM.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.523-528
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• 2005

Diblock copolymers with different poly($\varepsilon$-caprolactone) (PCL) block lengths were synthesized by ringopening polymerization of $\varepsilon$-caprolactone in the presence of monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG-OH, MW 2000) as initiator. The self-aggregation behaviors of the diblock copolymer nanoparticle, prepared by the diafiltration method, were investigated by using $^1H$ NMR, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and fluorescence spectroscopy. The PEG-PCL block copolymers formed the nano-sized self-aggregate in an aqueous environment by intrsa- and/or intermolecular association between hydrophobic PCL chains. The critical aggregation concentrations (cac) of the block copolymer self-aggregate became lower with increasing hydrophobic PCL block length. On the other hand, reverse trends of mean hydrodynamic diameters were measured by DLS owing to the increasing bulkiness of the hydrophobic chains and hydrophobic interaction between the PCL microdomains. The hydrodynamic diameters of the block copolymer nanoparticles, measured by DLS, were in the range of 65-270 nm. Furthermore, the size of the nanoparticles was scarcely affected by the concentration of the block copolymers in the range of 0.125-5 mg/mL owing to the negligible interparticular aggregation between the self-aggregated nanoparticles. Considered with the fairly low cac and nanoparticle stability, the PEG-PCL nanoparticles can be considered a potential candidate for biomedical applications such as drug carrier or imaging agent.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.561-565
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• 2008

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural glycosaminoglycan and is used widely in the pharmaceutical field. Lipoic acid (LA) helps the regeneration of exogenous and endogenous antioxidants such as Vitamin C and Vitamin E as well as glutathione. It also acts as antioxidant indirectly. Hydrophilic HA as a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer was conjugated with hydrophobic LA as an antioxidant to form the graft copolymer. The carboxyl group of HA was modified by adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH). The synthesis of HA-g-LA graft copolymers was characterized by FT-IR, $^1H$-NMR spectroscopy. The conjugates could form the self-assembled nanoparticles in aqueous solution. The particle size and critical aggregation concentration were verified to use the nanoparticle as a carrier fur the hydrophobic material.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.59-63
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• 2003

Superparamagnetic properties of self-aggregated cobalt nanoparticles in the perfluorinated ion-exchange polymeric membrane (MF-4SK) prepared by ion-exchange and recovery methods were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer at various temperatures. Our experimental results show that cobalt nanoparticles in MF-4SK for the concentration of $7.8{\times}10^{19}$ atoms per 1 g of polymer membrane exhibit superparamagnetic properties above the average blocking temperature ($T_{B}$), which is determined to be around 185 K at applied field of 500 Oe. The average particle radius of 4.0 nm achieved from Langevin function fit is in good agreement with TEM observations. This experimental evidence suggests that cobalt nanoparticles in polymer film obey a single domain theory. The results are discussed in the light of current theory for the superparamagnetic behavior of magnetic nanoparticles.