The controlled synthesis of polymer nanoparticles is of great interest in the production of latexes with well defined characteristics. These products can be applied in biomedicine as carriers of biomolecules (e.g. proteins and enzymes), and in particular as latexes for immunoassays used for example in immunoagglutination test, which allow amplify the antigen–antibody reaction, being simple, quick and inexpensive diagnostic tools. The synthesis of polystyrene (PS) latex particles and of core–shell particles, with controlled size distribution, functional groups and surface charge densities is considered here. PS latexes were synthesized in the 100–1100 nm diameter range, by either emulsion or dispersion polymerization. Such latexes were then used as seeds in emulsion copolymerizations of styrene and a functional monomer (methacrylic acid or glycidyl methacrylate), thus producing particles with carboxyl or epoxy functionalities, respectively. Changes in the polymerization recipes employed under batch operation were analyzed. Latex characterization involved measurements of mean particle diameters, the polydispersity index, functional group densities and zeta potential. Finally, latexes were sensitized (by either physical adsorption or covalent coupling) with specific antigens to obtain latex–protein complexes, and one of them was tested as agglutination assay for detecting leptospirosis disease in bovine samples, as an example of the potential application of the latexes produced.

中文翻译：

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乳液和分散聚合的乳胶颗粒：钩端螺旋体病特异性抗原致敏和免疫凝集应用

聚合物纳米粒子的受控合成在具有明确特性的胶乳的生产中具有重要意义。这些产品可以作为生物分子（例如蛋白质和酶）的载体应用于生物医学，特别是作为免疫分析的乳胶，例如用于免疫凝集试验，可以放大抗原 - 抗体反应，是简单、快速和廉价的诊断工具。这里考虑了聚苯乙烯 (PS) 乳胶颗粒和核壳颗粒的合成，具有受控的尺寸分布、官能团和表面电荷密度。PS 胶乳是通过乳液聚合或分散聚合在 100-1100 nm 直径范围内合成的。然后将这种胶乳用作苯乙烯和官能单体（甲基丙烯酸或甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯）乳液共聚中的种子，从而分别产生具有羧基或环氧官能团的颗粒。分析了在间歇操作下使用的聚合配方的变化。乳胶表征涉及平均粒径、多分散指数、官能团密度和zeta 电位的测量。最后，将乳胶与特定抗原敏化（通过物理吸附或共价偶联）以获得乳胶-蛋白质复合物，并将其中一种作为凝集试验进行测试，以检测牛样本中的钩端螺旋体病，作为潜在应用的一个例子生产的乳胶。分别。分析了在间歇操作下使用的聚合配方的变化。乳胶表征涉及平均粒径、多分散指数、官能团密度和zeta 电位的测量。最后，将乳胶与特定抗原敏化（通过物理吸附或共价偶联）以获得乳胶-蛋白质复合物，并将其中一种作为凝集试验进行测试，以检测牛样本中的钩端螺旋体病，作为潜在应用的一个例子生产的乳胶。分别。分析了在间歇操作下使用的聚合配方的变化。乳胶表征涉及平均粒径、多分散指数、官能团密度和zeta 电位的测量。最后，将乳胶与特定抗原敏化（通过物理吸附或共价偶联）以获得乳胶-蛋白质复合物，并将其中一种作为凝集试验进行测试，以检测牛样本中的钩端螺旋体病，作为潜在应用的一个例子生产的乳胶。