Development of Thermally Responsive PolyNIPAm Microcarrier for Application of Cell Culturing—Part I: A Feasibility Study
Poly(<i>N</i>-isopropylacrylamide) (polyNIPAm) microspheres were synthesized via the suspension polymerization technique. Thermal and redox initiators were compared for the polymerization, in order to study the effect of initiator type on the surface charge and particle size of polyNIPAm...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Polymers |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/16/2629 |
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| author | Pui May Chou Poi Sim Khiew Paul D Brown Binjie Hu |
| author_facet | Pui May Chou Poi Sim Khiew Paul D Brown Binjie Hu |
| author_sort | Pui May Chou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Poly(<i>N</i>-isopropylacrylamide) (polyNIPAm) microspheres were synthesized via the suspension polymerization technique. Thermal and redox initiators were compared for the polymerization, in order to study the effect of initiator type on the surface charge and particle size of polyNIPAm microspheres. The successful polymerization of NIPAm was confirmed by FTIR analysis. Microspheres of diameter >50 µm were synthesized when a pair of ammonium persulfate (APS) and <i>N,N,N’,N’</i>-tetramethylene-diamine (TEMED) redox initiators was used, whilst relatively small microspheres of ~1 µm diameter were produced using an Azobis-isobutyronitrile (AIBN) thermal initiator. Hence, suspension polymerization using a redox initiator pair was found to be more appropriate for the synthesis of polyNIPAm microspheres of a size suitable for human embryonic kidney (HEK) cell culturing. However, the zeta potential of polyNIPAm microspheres prepared using an APS/TEMED redox initiator was significantly more negative than AIBN thermal initiator prepared microspheres and acted to inhibit cell attachment. Conversely, strong cell attachment was observed in the case of polyNIPAm microspheres of diameter ~90 µm, prepared using an APS/TEMED redox initiator in the presence of a cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) cationic surfactant; demonstrating that surface charge modified polyNIPAm microspheres have great potential for use in cell culturing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:27:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6d4edb26e18d47c0a08c330c132832c9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4360 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:27:21Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Polymers |
| spelling | doaj.art-6d4edb26e18d47c0a08c330c132832c92023-11-22T09:21:56ZengMDPI AGPolymers2073-43602021-08-011316262910.3390/polym13162629Development of Thermally Responsive PolyNIPAm Microcarrier for Application of Cell Culturing—Part I: A Feasibility StudyPui May Chou0Poi Sim Khiew1Paul D Brown2Binjie Hu3School of Computer Science and Engineering, Faculty of Innovation and Technology, Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, No. 1, Jalan Taylor’s, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, MalaysiaCenter of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, Semenyih 43500, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Mechanical, Materials & Manufacturing Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UKDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham China, 199 Taikang East Road, Ningbo 315100, ChinaPoly(<i>N</i>-isopropylacrylamide) (polyNIPAm) microspheres were synthesized via the suspension polymerization technique. Thermal and redox initiators were compared for the polymerization, in order to study the effect of initiator type on the surface charge and particle size of polyNIPAm microspheres. The successful polymerization of NIPAm was confirmed by FTIR analysis. Microspheres of diameter >50 µm were synthesized when a pair of ammonium persulfate (APS) and <i>N,N,N’,N’</i>-tetramethylene-diamine (TEMED) redox initiators was used, whilst relatively small microspheres of ~1 µm diameter were produced using an Azobis-isobutyronitrile (AIBN) thermal initiator. Hence, suspension polymerization using a redox initiator pair was found to be more appropriate for the synthesis of polyNIPAm microspheres of a size suitable for human embryonic kidney (HEK) cell culturing. However, the zeta potential of polyNIPAm microspheres prepared using an APS/TEMED redox initiator was significantly more negative than AIBN thermal initiator prepared microspheres and acted to inhibit cell attachment. Conversely, strong cell attachment was observed in the case of polyNIPAm microspheres of diameter ~90 µm, prepared using an APS/TEMED redox initiator in the presence of a cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) cationic surfactant; demonstrating that surface charge modified polyNIPAm microspheres have great potential for use in cell culturing.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/16/2629polyNIPAmmicrosphereinitiatorsuspension polymerizationcell culturing |
| spellingShingle | Pui May Chou Poi Sim Khiew Paul D Brown Binjie Hu Development of Thermally Responsive PolyNIPAm Microcarrier for Application of Cell Culturing—Part I: A Feasibility Study Polymers polyNIPAm microsphere initiator suspension polymerization cell culturing |
| title | Development of Thermally Responsive PolyNIPAm Microcarrier for Application of Cell Culturing—Part I: A Feasibility Study |
| title_full | Development of Thermally Responsive PolyNIPAm Microcarrier for Application of Cell Culturing—Part I: A Feasibility Study |
| title_fullStr | Development of Thermally Responsive PolyNIPAm Microcarrier for Application of Cell Culturing—Part I: A Feasibility Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of Thermally Responsive PolyNIPAm Microcarrier for Application of Cell Culturing—Part I: A Feasibility Study |
| title_short | Development of Thermally Responsive PolyNIPAm Microcarrier for Application of Cell Culturing—Part I: A Feasibility Study |
| title_sort | development of thermally responsive polynipam microcarrier for application of cell culturing part i a feasibility study |
| topic | polyNIPAm microsphere initiator suspension polymerization cell culturing |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/16/2629 |
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