Novel nanoparticles formed via self-assembly of poly(ethylene glycol-b-sebacic anhydride) and their degradation in water

A novel diblock copolymer, poly(ethylene oxide-b-sebacic acid) (PEO-b-PSA), was prepared by polycondensation. Its self-assembly in water via a microph ase inversion resulted in narrowly distributed stable polymeric nanoparticl es with a size of similar to 70 nm. Such formed nanoparticles had a core-sh ell nanostructure: with the insoluble hydrophobic PSA blocks as the core an d the soluble hydrophilic PEO blocks as the protective shell. The core was degradable, and its degradation led to the disintegration of the nanopartic le. The structure of the nanostructure and the degradation kinetics were in vestigated by a combination of static and dynamic laser light scattering. O ur results indicated that the degradation was a first-order reaction, and t he degradation rate increases with the dispersion temperature.