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Advance of Polymer Nanogels and Microgels

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Smart and Functional Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 3945

Special Issue Editors

Colleague of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
Interests: polymer; nanogels; aerogels; epoxy resin; composites; mechanical properties; flame retardancy
Institute of Advanced Structure Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: aerogel; porous material; thermal insulation material; coating material; gels
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymer nanogels and microgels perform a variety of valuable functions due to their special compositions and structures, and have a wide range of applications in chemical, biological, medical, electronic, and technical fields. Gelatinous polymer networks are unique 3D macromolecular structures with tuneable properties and enormous application potential. The chemical design of nanogel and microgel particles from molecular building blocks is essential to their function and successful application in different systems. The synthetic techniques for the preparation of polymer nanogels and microgels with different chemical compositions, architectures, sizes, surface charges, and functional properties are worthy of detailed study.

Polymer nanogels and microgels have been the focus of much research, and new functional materials will continue to be developed and applied in practice with immeasurable development prospects. This Special Issue is devoted to the challenges and future perspectives of polymer nanogels and microgels, and includes research regarding their design, fabrication, and application.

Dr. Lijie Qu
Dr. Baosheng Xu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • polymer
  • nanogels
  • microgels
  • biogel
  • hydrogel
  • aerogels
  • colloids
  • cross-linking
  • polymerization

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3075 KiB  
Article
Ophthalmic Bimatoprost-Loaded Niosomal In Situ Gel: Preparation, Optimization, and In Vivo Pharmacodynamics Study
by Mohammed F. Aldawsari, Ehssan H. Moglad, Hadil Faris Alotaibi, Hamad M. Alkahtani and El-Sayed Khafagy
Polymers 2023, 15(21), 4336; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15214336 - 6 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1933
Abstract
This study aimed at formulating the antiglaucoma agent, Bimatoprost (BMT), into niosomal in situ gel (BMT-ISG) for ocular delivery. Niosomes containing cholesterol/span 60 entrapping BMT were fabricated using a thin-film hydration method. The fabricated niosomes were optimized and characterized for entrapment efficiency (%EE) [...] Read more.
This study aimed at formulating the antiglaucoma agent, Bimatoprost (BMT), into niosomal in situ gel (BMT-ISG) for ocular delivery. Niosomes containing cholesterol/span 60 entrapping BMT were fabricated using a thin-film hydration method. The fabricated niosomes were optimized and characterized for entrapment efficiency (%EE) and size. The optimized BMT-loaded niosomal formulation prepared at a cholesterol/span 60 ratio of 1:2 exhibited the highest entrapment (81.2 ± 1.2%) and a small particle size (167.3 ± 9.1 nm), and they were selected for incorporation into in situ gelling systems (BMT-ISGs) based on Pluronic F127/Pluronic F68. Finally, the in vivo efficiency of the BMT-ISG formulation, in terms of lowering the intraocular pressure (IOP) in normotensive male albino rabbits following ocular administration, was assessed and compared to that of BMT ophthalmic solution. All the formulated BMT-ISGs showed sol–gel transition temperatures ranging from 28.1 °C to 40.5 ± 1.6 °C. In addition, the BMT-ISG formulation sustained in vitro BMT release for up to 24 h. Interestingly, in vivo experiments depicted that topical ocular administration of optimized BMT-ISG formulation elicited a significant decline in IOP, with maximum mean decreases in IOP of 9.7 ± 0.6 mm Hg, compared to BMT aqueous solution (5.8 ± 0.6 mm Hg). Most importantly, no signs of irritation to the rabbit’s eye were observed following topical ocular administration of the optimized BMT-ISG formulation. Collectively, our results suggested that niosomal in situ gels might be a feasible delivery vehicle for topical ocular administration of anti-glaucoma agents, particularly those with poor ocular bioavailability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advance of Polymer Nanogels and Microgels)
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11 pages, 2215 KiB  
Article
Cationic Nanogels Enable Gold Nanoparticle Immobilization and Regulated Catalytic Activity
by Xin Wang, Xuhong Guo, Martien A. Cohen Stuart, Junyou Wang and Peng Ding
Polymers 2023, 15(8), 1935; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15081935 - 19 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1460
Abstract
Polyelectrolyte nanogel consisting of charged network is a prospective platform for developing nanoreactor due to their integrated features of both polyelectrolyte and hydrogel. In this work, cationic poly (methacrylatoethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride) (PMETAC) nanogels with regulated size (30–82 nm) and crosslinking degree (10–50%), [...] Read more.
Polyelectrolyte nanogel consisting of charged network is a prospective platform for developing nanoreactor due to their integrated features of both polyelectrolyte and hydrogel. In this work, cationic poly (methacrylatoethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride) (PMETAC) nanogels with regulated size (30–82 nm) and crosslinking degree (10–50%), has been synthesized by Electrostatic Assembly Directed Polymerization (EADP) method and applied to load gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Based on the typical reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), the catalytic performance of the constructed nanoreactor was examined by studying their kinetic process, where the loaded AuNPs exhibited dependent activity on crosslinking degree of nanogels, while independent catalytic activity on nanogel size. Our results validate that, polyelectrolyte nanogels are capable of loading metal NPs and regulating their catalytic performance, therefore demonstrates potential for developing functional nanoreactors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advance of Polymer Nanogels and Microgels)
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