Abstract
The N-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAM) and acrylic acid (AAc) copolymer (P (NIPAM-co-AAc)) microgel was prepared through soap-free emulsion polymerization. The morphology and the transmittance of P (NIPAM-co-AAc) microgel before and after loading protein of bovine serum albumin (BSA) were observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and spectrophotometer, respectively. AFM image showed that the particle size of the microgel was about 900 nm in contrast with 20 nm of BSA particles. It was also found that from AFM, the P (NIPAM-co-AAc) microgel particles were uniformly dispersed with a conical shape, while the BSA-loaded microgel particles formed agglomerates and the microgel particles were distributed in a cylindrical shape, which was caused by the significant improvement of microgel particles after protein adsorption. The changes of surface properties ultimately influenced the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of microgel solutions, leading to a decrease in the LCST of the BSA-loaded microgel solution.
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