Facile preparation of cationic P (St-BA-METAC) copolymer nanoparticles and the investigation of their interaction with bovine serum albumin

Cationic copolymer nanoparticles were pre- pared by emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization of sty- rene and n-butyl acrylate, using (2-(methacryoyloxy ethyl) trimethylammonium chloride as the cationic functional comonomer and 2,2 0 -azobis (2-methypropionamidine) as the cationic initiator. FTIR spectroscopy, 1 H-NMR spec- troscopy, and GPC were applied to characterize the chemi- cal structure and molecular weight of the obtained copolymer. The size and size distribution of the nanopar- ticles were characterized through photon correlation spec- troscopy. The interaction of nanoparticles with bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated by the means of transmission electron microscopy and fluorescence spec- troscopy. It was found that the copolymer nanoparticles were monodisperse spheres with the diameter less than 90 nm and can complex well with BSA through electrostatic interaction. V C 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 125: 864-869, 2012