Synthesis, characterization, and micellar behaviors of hydroxyethyl cellulose-graft-poly(lactide/ε-caprolactone/p-dioxanone)

In response to the shortage of petroleum resources and the growing need for sustainable development, cellulose-based amphiphilic copolymers have emerged as a new generation of value-added functional nanostructures from biomass resources. In this article, 17 amphiphilic hydroxyethyl cellulose-based graft copolymers with different side chains, including poly(lactide), poly(epsilon-caprolactone) and poly(p-dioxanone), were synthesized via homogeneous ring opening polymerization in ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride and characterized by FT-IR, H-1 NMR, thermogravimetric analysis and gel permeation chromatography. The resultant copolymers can self-assemble into micelles with a low critical micelle concentration that varies in the range of 0.03-0.24 mg/ml. TEM observations revealed the obtained micelles had a spherical and well-distributed morphology, and DLS analysis showed the nanoscaled sizes were between 40 and 150 nm. These HEC-based micelles can be used as nano-sized vesicles and have great latent forces in drug delivery systems.