Interaction between Bile Salt Sodium Glycodeoxycholate and PEO-PPO-PEO Triblock Copolymers in Aqueous Solution

• The interactions of the anionic bile salt NaGDC with three triblock copolymers based on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(propylene oxide) (PPO), denoted P65, P123 and F127, were investigated using high-sensitive differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), turbidimetry, dynamic and static light scattering and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). P65 and P123 had the same hydrophilic PEO block lengths, whereas F127 and P123 had the same hydrophobic PPO block length. In water, the block copolymers self-assembled and formed spherical micelles at a critical micelle temperature, which depended on both the PPO/PEO composition ratio and the molecular weight of the copolymer. The mixed systems were studied at a constant P65, P123 or F127 concentration (i.e., 1.0 wt% or 5.0 wt%) with varying nNaGDC/npolymer molar ratio (MR) from 0 to 12. The DSC measurements presented endothermic enthalpy values (correlated to the amount of PPO that dehydrates in the aggregation process) that were suppressed at high MR. At 50 °C, the NaGDC molecules associated to the PPO core – PEO corona interface of the copolymer micelle forming a negatively charged block copolymer micelle–NaGDC complex. The complexes began to disintegrate upon NaGDC addition. Their resistance to disruption followed the stability order as inferred from the CMT values. At 20 °C, the unassociated block copolymer chains interacted with the NaGDC micelles and formed small NaGDC-rich complexes with a radius of ∼2 nm as determined by SAXS.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Fysikalisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Physical Chemistry (hsv//eng)

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art (subject category)

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