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Hyperbranched polyethylenimine–based polymeric nanoparticles: synthesis, properties, and an application in selective response to copper ion

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Abstract

Hyperbranched polyethylenimines (hPEIs) have diverse biological applications; however, the intrinsic toxicity is a major concern in developing hPEI-based biomaterials. This work reports the synthesis, properties, and an application as a biocompatible hPEI-based material, namely, fluorescent oxidized hPEI polymeric nanoparticles (F-ohPEIs). The synthesis was achieved through oxidation of hPEI with H2O2 and subsequent cross-linking with formaldehyde, imparting to F-ohPEIs’ desired properties such as remarkably reduced positive charge density, hydrolytic degradability, low cytotoxicity, strong fluorescence emission, and stability. Furthermore, as an application, F-ohPEI demonstrated the ability to selectively respond to cupric ion in a wide concentration range of 0.02 ~ 10 μM with a low limit of detection of 0.013 μM. The synthesis strategy along with the F-ohPEI nanoparticles developed in this work is expected to find promising application in fabricating biocompatible hPEI-based biomaterials.

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Funding

The authors received financial supports from the Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation (2013CFB245).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Orthopaedic Department of Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, Hubei, China

    Jun Zhong & Kai Sun

  2. College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, Hubei, China

    Bingbing Wang & Jiang Duan

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  1. Jun Zhong
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  2. Bingbing Wang
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  3. Kai Sun
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Correspondence to Jun Zhong.

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Zhong, J., Wang, B., Sun, K. et al. Hyperbranched polyethylenimine–based polymeric nanoparticles: synthesis, properties, and an application in selective response to copper ion. Colloid Polym Sci 299, 1577–1586 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-021-04885-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-021-04885-8

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