This presentation discussed our recent success on developing new strategies to synthesize functional nanoparticles and their applications in gene delivery and CO2 capture. Functional nanoparticles with uniform size, hierarchical structure and tunable compositions can find broad applications in different areas. We applied controlled radical polymerizations in nanometer-sized confined space, such as micelles in a microemulsion, and successfully regulated the polymerization behavior of different functional monomers. The developed facile synthetic techniques include: 1) one-step synthesis of hyperbranched polymers with uniform structure and high molecular weights, 2). One-step synthesis of crosslinked polypyrrole nanoparticles. The former hyperbranched polymers with thousands of preserved initiating sites were used as multifunctional initiators for surface polymerization. The produced hairy nanoparticles with core-shell structures and dimension of 100 nm showed promising properties as carriers for siRNA delivery. The polypyrrole nanoparticles with high nitrogen content could further assemble into porous organic materials with different pore distributions, which is a promising material for CO2 uptake.

Synthesis of functional organic nanoparticles for applications in gene delivery and carbon dioxide capture

246th National Meeting (2013)

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