Biocompatible and stimuli-responsive Fe3O4@MEO2MAx-co-OEGMAy NPs have attracted our interest due to their possible use in biomedicine as magnetic resonance imaging contrast enhancers and cell manipulation agents. Therefore, it was important to know whether these NPs interact with cellular membranes or not? Thus, we investigated the interaction of those NPs with DPPC monolayers, used as a model of the outer leaflet of a cell membrane. As a prerequisite of understanding this interaction, the system was widely investigated at the bare air/water interface. The NPs behave differently below and above their lower critical solution temperature (LCST) due to different hydration levels and conformational changes of the copolymer shell. Below the LCST, the NPs form stable Langmuir as well as Gibbs monolayers, and re-disperse into the subphase above the maximal interfacial concentration. Above the LCST, the NPs show high affinity for hydrophobic interactions, agglomerating at the interface and losing their re-dispersibility.

Stimuli-responsive NPs interacting with hydrophilic/hydrophobic interfaces

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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