Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, Gestionale, Informatica, Meccanica, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 6, 90128, Palermo, Italy.
School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden.
Top Curr Chem (Cham). 2016 Oct;374(5):69. doi: 10.1007/s41061-016-0071-x. Epub 2016 Sep 19.
Nanogels combine the favourable properties of hydrogels with those of colloids. They can be soft and conformable, stimuli-responsive and highly permeable, and can expose a large surface with functional groups for conjugation to small and large molecules, and even macromolecules. They are among the very few systems that can be generated and used as aqueous dispersions. Nanogels are emerging materials for targeted drug delivery and bio-imaging, but they have also shown potential for water purification and in catalysis. The possibility of manufacturing nanogels with a simple process and at relatively low cost is a key criterion for their continued development and successful application. This paper highlights the most important structural features of nanogels related to their distinctive properties, and briefly presents the most common manufacturing strategies. It then focuses on synthetic approaches that are based on the irradiation of dilute aqueous polymer solutions using high-energy photons or electron beams. The reactions constituting the basis for nanogel formation and the approaches for controlling particle size and functionality are discussed in the context of a qualitative analysis of the kinetics of the various reactions.
纳米凝胶将水凝胶和胶体的优点结合在一起。它们可以柔软且易于适应、对刺激有响应且具有高渗透性，并可以暴露具有用于与小分子和大分子甚至大分子结合的功能基团的大表面。它们是少数几种可以作为水相分散体生成和使用的系统之一。纳米凝胶是靶向药物输送和生物成像的新兴材料，但它们在水净化和催化方面也显示出潜力。用简单的工艺和相对较低的成本制造纳米凝胶的可能性是其持续发展和成功应用的关键标准。本文重点介绍了与纳米凝胶独特性质相关的最重要的结构特征，并简要介绍了最常见的制造策略。然后，它专注于基于使用高能光子或电子束辐照稀水溶液中的聚合物溶液的合成方法。根据各种反应的动力学的定性分析，讨论了构成纳米凝胶形成基础的反应和控制颗粒大小和功能的方法。
