Self-Assembled Glucose and Thermo Dual-Responsive Micelles of an Amphiphilic Graft Copolymer

Amphiphilic copolymers P(PBA)-g-P(PEG) containing poly(phenylboronic acid) (PPBA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) side chains were synthesized by copolymerization of 4-vinylphenylboronic acid (PBA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate. The surface tension results showed that the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of P(PBA)-g-P(PEG) was 0.09 g/L. TEM revealed that these copolymers self-assembled into regular sphere micelles above CMC. The photon correlation spectroscopy suggested that they had unique performance of thermo-induced self-assembly. Above critical micelle temperature, they self-assembled into monodisperse micelles with thermosensitivity. Hydrodynamic diameters of these micelles increased dramatically in the presence of glucose. The glucose-regulated drug release behavior was observed through UV-vis spectroscopy.