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. 2025 Apr 10;17(8):1030.
doi: 10.3390/polym17081030.

Study of Polyethylene Oxide- b-Poly(ε-caprolactone- ran- δ-valerolactone) Amphiphilic Architectures and Their Effects on Self-Assembly as a Drug Carrier

Chaoqun Wang  1 , Tong Wu  2 , Yidi Li  1 , Jie Liu  1 , Yanshai Wang  1 , Kefeng Wang  1 , Yang Li  1 , Xuefei Leng  1
Affiliations

Study of Polyethylene Oxide- b-Poly(ε-caprolactone- ran- δ-valerolactone) Amphiphilic Architectures and Their Effects on Self-Assembly as a Drug Carrier

Chaoqun Wang et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Amphiphilic block copolymers with complex topologies (e.g., star and brush topologies) have attracted significant attention in drug delivery owing to their superior performance over linear micelles. However, their precise synthesis and structure-property relationships require further investigation. In this study, hydroxylated polybutadiene with adjustable topology and hydroxyl group density was employed as a macroinitiator to synthesize well-defined amphiphilic poly (ethylene oxide)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone-ran-δ-valerolactone) (PEO-b-P(CL-ran-VL)) copolymers via ring-opening polymerization (ROP). A series of linear, star, linear-comb, and star-comb copolymers were prepared as curcumin-loaded micellar carriers for the study. The self-assembly behavior, drug encapsulation efficiency, and in vitro release profiles of these copolymers in aqueous environments were systematically investigated. The results demonstrated that increasing the branch length of star-comb copolymers effectively reduced micelle size from 143 to 96 nm and enhanced drug encapsulation efficiency from 27.3% to 39.8%. Notably, the star-comb architecture exhibited 1.2-fold higher curcumin encapsulation efficiency than the linear counterparts. Furthermore, the optimized star-comb nanoparticles displayed sustained release kinetics (73.38% release over 15 days), outperforming conventional linear micelles. This study establishes a quantitative structure-property relationship between copolymer topology and drug delivery performance, providing a molecular design platform for programmable nanocarriers tailored to diverse therapeutic requirements of various diseases.

Keywords: amphiphilic copolymers; architectures; drug delivery; self-assembly.

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Conflict of interest statement

Author Tong Wu was employed by the company SINOPEC Ningbo New Materials Research Institute Company Limited. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Scheme 1
Scheme 1
Synthesis of macroinitiator.
Scheme 2
Scheme 2
Synthesis of PEO-b-P(CL-ran-VL) with different architectures.
Figure 1
Figure 1
1H NMR spectra of (a) PEO and (b) PEO-b-P(CL-ran-VL) in CDCl3.
Figure 2
Figure 2
DLS curves of PEO-b-P(CL-ran-VL) and PEO-b-PCL with different architectures: (a) L2-PEO-b-P(CL-ran-VL) and L2-PEO-b-PCL, (b) S3-PEO-b-P(CL-ran-VL) and S3-PEO-b-PCL, (c) LC3-PEO-b-P(CL-ran-VL) and LC3-PEO-b-PCL, (d) SC3-PEO-b-P(CL-ran-VL) and SC3-PEO-b-PCL.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic diagram of the flower micelle model.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Plots of the intensity ratio (I339/I384) against the concentrations of (a) L3-PEO-b-P(CL-ran-VL), (b) S3-PEO-b-P(CL-ran-VL), (c) LC3-PEO-b-P(CL-ran-VL), and (d) SC3-PEO-b-P(CL-ran-VL).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Stability study of polymeric micelles.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Cumulative release curves of curcumin-loaded micelles with different architectures for in vitro drug release.
Figure 7
Figure 7
PANC-1 cell viability after 48 h by CCK-8 assay (n = 3): (a) blank micelles and (b) drug-loaded micelles.
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