Fabrication and sensitivity studies of nanoparticles based on cyclic boronate esters

Abstract

The nanoparticles were fabricated by the complexation of poly(acrylamido phenylboronic acid) (PAAPBA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) via boronic acid-related reactions. The resulting PAAPBA/PVA nanoparticles were characterized by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The nanoparticles were sphere with narrow size-distribution, and their sizes were correlated with PVA concentration. These nanoparticles showed significant sensitivity to hydroxyl ion and sugar, which could be adjusted by changing PVA concentrations. Moreover, their sugar sensitivity was dependent on nanoparticle concentrations and sugar configurations. Finally, demonstrated by an in vitro cytotoxicity experiments, the PAAPBA/PVA nanoparticles showed good cytocompatibility.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• polyvinyl alcohol
• phenylboronic acids
• hydroxyl ion sensitivity
• sugar sensitivity
• cytocompatibility

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51503064 and 51803057); the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (B2018508088); the Colleges and universities in Hebei province science and technology research project (Z2018012 and ZD2018303).