Characterization of charged polymer self-assemblies by multidetector thermal field-flow fractionation in aqueous mobile phases

摘要

Highlights?ThFFF can characterize charged self-assemblies in aqueous mobile phases.?Ionic strength significantly influence thermal diffusion of charged self-assemblies.?Transition from oblate spheroid to worm-like self-assemblies with ionic strength is characterized by ThFFF.?ThFFF shows potential to separate charged PVP micelles based on microstructure in aqueous mobile phases.AbstractCharged block copolymer self-assemblies, such as charged micelles, have attracted much attention as versatile drug delivery systems due to their readily tunable characteristics such as size and surface charge. However, current column-based analytical techniques are not suitable to fractionate and comprehensively characterize charged micelles in terms of size, molar mass, chemical composition and morphology. Multidetector thermal field-flow fractionation (ThFFF) is shown to be a unique characterization platform that can