Effect of ions on the aggregation behavior of natural polymer alginate.

The effect of the presence of ions on the aggregation behavior of natural polymer alginate in aqueous media was investigated. Through self-assembly of alginate in aqueous solutions containing Ca2+ and CO(3)(2-) ions under very mild conditions, nanosized aggregates with four different morphologies, i.e., nanosphere, vesicle, nanoparticle, and nanorod, could be obtained under different ion concentrations. This study provides a simple approach to prepare organic/inorganic (O/I) hybrid natural polymer based aggregates with different morphologies.