Chaperone-like α-cyclodextrins assisted self-assembly of double hydrophilic block copolymers in aqueous medium

Role of chemical additives and their rheological properties in enhanced oil recovery

A significant amount of oil (i.e. 60–70%) remains trapped in reservoirs after the conventional primary and secondary methods of oil recovery. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods are therefore necessary to recover the major fraction of unrecovered trapped oil from reservoirs to meet the present-day energy demands. The chemical EOR method is one of the promising methods where various chemical additives, such as alkalis, surfactants, polymer, and the combination of all alkali–surfactant–polymer (ASP) or surfactant–polymer (SP) solutions, are injected into the reservoir to improve the displacement and sweep efficiency. Every oil field has different conditions, which imposes new challenges toward alternative but more effective EOR techniques. Among such attractive alternative additives are polymeric surfactants, natural surfactants, nanoparticles, and self-assembled polymer systems for EOR. In this paper, water-soluble chemical additives such as alkalis, surfactants, polymer, and ASP or SP solution for chemical EOR are highlighted. This review also discusses the concepts and techniques related to the chemical methods of EOR, and highlights the rheological properties of the chemicals involved in the efficiency of EOR methods.

Influence of additives on thermoresponsive polymers in aqueous media: a case study of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)

Thermoresponsive polymers (TRPs) in different solvent media have been studied over a long period and are important from both scientific and technical points of view.

Chaperone gelator for the chiral self-assembly of all proteinogenic amino acids and their enantiomers

A concept of a chaperone gelator that can assist non-gelator molecules to form gels is proposed.

Glucose-responsive polymer vesicles templated by α-CD/PEG inclusion complex

Polymeric nanoparticles with glucose-responsiveness are of great interest in developing a self-regulated drug delivery system. In this work, glucose-responsive polymer vesicles were fabricated based on the complexation between a glucosamine (GA)-containing block copolymer PEG45-b-P(Asp-co-AspGA) and a phenylboronic acid (PBA)-containing block copolymer PEG114-b-P(Asp-co-AspPBA) with α-CD/PEG45 inclusion complex as the sacrificial template. The obtained polymer vesicles composed of cross-linked P(Asp-co-AspGA)/P(Asp-co-AspPBA) layer as wall and PEG chains as both inner and outer coronas. The vesicular morphology was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and the glucose-responsiveness was investigated by monitoring the variations of hydrodynamic diameter (Dh) and light scattering intensity (LSI) in the polymer vesicle solution with glucose using dynamic light scattering (DLS). Vancomycin as a model drug was encapsulated in the polymer vesicles and sugar-triggered drug release was carried out. This kind of polymer vesicle may be a promising candidate for glucose-responsive drug delivery.

Cyclodextrin-based supramolecular systems for drug delivery: recent progress and future perspective

The excellent biocompatibility and unique inclusion capability as well as powerful functionalization capacity of cyclodextrins and their derivatives make them especially attractive for engineering novel functional materials for biomedical applications. There has been increasing interest recently to fabricate supramolecular systems for drug and gene delivery based on cyclodextrin materials. This review focuses on state of the art and recent advances in the construction of cyclodextrin-based assemblies and their applications for controlled drug delivery. First, we introduce cyclodextrin materials utilized for self-assembly. The fabrication technologies of supramolecular systems including nanoplatforms and hydrogels as well as their applications in nanomedicine and pharmaceutical sciences are then highlighted. At the end, the future directions of this field are discussed.

Core-shell structured nanoassemblies based on β-cyclodextrin containing block copolymer and poly(β-benzyl L-aspartate) via host-guest complexation

Double hydrophilic copolymers (PEG-b-PCDs) with one PEG block and another block containing β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) units were synthesized by macromolecular substitution reaction. Via a dialysis procedure, complex assemblies with a core-shell structure were prepared using PEG-b-PCDs in the presence of a hydrophobic homopolymer poly(β-benzyl L-aspartate) (PBLA). The hydrophobic PBLA resided preferably in the cores of assemblies, while the extending PEG chains acted as the outer shell. Host-guest interaction between β-CD and hydrophobic benzyl group was found to mediate the formation of the assemblies, where PEG-b-PCD and PBLA served as the host and guest macromolecules, respectively. The particle size of the assemblies could be modulated by the composition of the host PEG-b-PCD copolymer. The molecular weight of the guest polymer also had a significant effect on the size of the assemblies. The assemblies prepared from the host and guest polymer pair were stable during a long-term storage. These assemblies could also be successfully reconstituted after freeze-drying. The assemblies may therefore be used as novel nanocarriers for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs.