Soft template synthesis of donor–acceptor conjugated polymer nanoparticles: Structural effects, stability, and photothermal studies. Issue 11 (7th April 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: MacNeill, Christopher M.; Graham, Elizabeth G.; Levi‐Polyachenko, Nicole H.
• Is Part Of: Journal of polymer science. Volume 52:Issue 11(2014:Jun.)
• Page Start: 1622
• Page End: 1632
• Publication Date: 2014-04-07
• Subjects: 547
• DOI: 10.1002/pola.27176
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0887-624X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>ABSTRACT</title> <p>Donor–acceptor conjugated polymer nanoparticles and nanofibers, based on Poly[4, 4‐<italic>bis</italic>(2‐ethylhexyl)‐cyclopenta[2, 1‐<italic>b</italic>;3, 4‐<italic>b'</italic>]dithiophene‐2, 6‐diyl‐<italic>alt</italic>−2, 1, 3‐benzoselenadiazole‐4, 7‐diyl] (PCPDTBSe), were synthesized using Pluronic F127 as a template. The nanomaterials were compared to previously reported PCPDTBSe nanoparticles, which were synthesized without the use of a template. Our goal was to improve on the aqueous stability and photothermal heating efficiency of the previously synthesized PCPDTBSe nanoparticles by decreasing their size and coating them with a biocompatible surfactant. The pluronic wrapped PCPDTBSe (PW‐PCPDTBSe) nanoparticles (40–60 nm) showed excellent aqueous stability compared to the PW‐PCPDTBSe nanofibers (<italic>d</italic> = 20–60 nm, <italic>l</italic> = 200–1000 nm) and previously synthesized PCPDTBSe nanoparticles (150 nm). Under stimulation from 800 nm near infrared light (3 W, 1 min), the PW‐PCPDTBSe nanoparticles showed greater heat generation (Δ<italic>T</italic> = 47 °C) compared to bare PCPDTBSe nanoparticles and PW‐PCPDTBSe nanofibers (Δ<italic>T</italic> = 35 °C for both). Cytotoxicity studies determined that both the PW‐PCPDTBSe nanoparticles and PW‐PCPDTBSe nanofibers displayed no significant toxicity toward either noncancerous small intestinal cells (FHs 74 Int) or colorectal cancer cells (CT26). Photothermal ablation studies confirmed that both the PW‐PCPDTBSe nanoparticles and the PW‐PCPDTBSe nanofibers can be used as localized photothermal agents to eradicate colorectal cancer cells due to their excellent ablation efficiency (>95% cell death at 15 µg/mL concentration). © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. <bold>2014</bold>, <italic>52</italic>, 1622–1632</p> </abstract>