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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: Biomaterials. 2013 Sep 23;34(38):10.1016/j.biomaterials.2013.09.015. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2013.09.015

Table 3.

Theoretical micelle diameters dmicelle of diblock copolymers and experimental nanoparticle diameters dm¯ in 90 mL of H2O and 10 mL of THF

BCP PS(10k)-b-PEG(5k) PCL(12k)-b-PEG(5k) PLA(10k)-b-PEG(5k) PLGA(10k)-b-PEG(5k)

Cal. dmicelle (nm)a 21b 19c 23d, e --g

Saline (1 wt%) w/o w/ w/o w/ w/o w/ w/o w/
Exp. dm¯ (nm) 25 30 147 -- 20 --f 34 41
Stable (Y/N) Y Y N N Y N Y Y
a

Assuming micelles are spherical, although very unlikely with such a block ratio of about 2. Estimated by 4×(Rg, PEG+Rg, hydrophobic block), Rg, PEG(5k) = 2.58 nm based on Reference [30]

b

Rg, PS(10k) = 2.68 nm in a molten state based on Reference [30]

c

Rg, PCL(12k) = 2.21 nm in a bulk state based on Reference [35]

d

Rg, PLA(10k) = 3.23 nm in a bulk state based on Reference [36], 3.09 nm in a molten state based on Reference [37]

e

Experimental dmicelle =26 nm without saline and 28 nm with 1 wt% of saline in the THF/H2O=1 mixture measured by DLS

f

DLS showed a peak at 29 nm. But large suspended particles out of the detection limit can be visually observed, which had to be larger than 10 μm

g

No reference value has been found. But it is expected to be comparable with the value of its analog, PLA(10k)-b-PEG(5k), about 23 nm