Miniemulsion polymerization at low temperature: A strategy for one-pot encapsulation of hydrophobic anti-inflammatory drugs into polyester-containing nanoparticles.

Hypothesis: Conventional synthesis methods of polymeric nanoparticles as drug delivery systems are based on the use of large amounts of organic solvents, hence requiring several steps for the obtaining of waterborne dispersions. In view of the need for new environmentally friendly methods, emulsion polymerization and their related techniques are a good alternative for the production of monodispersed waterborne dispersions of biodegradable nanoparticles in a cleaner, reproducible and faster manner.

Experiments: Herein, the miniemulsion polymerization technique at low temperature using poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) as surfactant has been developed for poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate-lactic acid) and poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate-lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles.

Two-Photon Polymerized Poly(2-Ethyl-2-Oxazoline) Hydrogel 3D Microstructures with Tunable Mechanical Properties for Tissue Engineering.

The main task of tissue engineering (TE) is to reproduce, replicate, and mimic all kinds of tissues in the human body. Nowadays, it has been proven useful in TE to mimic the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) by an artificial ECM (scaffold) based on synthetic or natural biomaterials to regenerate the physiological tissue/organ architecture and function. Hydrogels have gained interest in the TE community because of their ability to absorb water similar to physiological tissues, thus mechanically simulating the ECM.