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Updated: May 20, 2026

Nanosponge Tunability in Size and Crosslinking Density
Published on: August 4, 2017
Dialysis nanoprecipitation of polystyrene nanoparticles
Chuan Zhang1, Jae Woo Chung, Rodney D Priestley
1Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Abstract:
Using a facile dialysis nanoprecipitation method, nanoparticles of several hundred nanometers have been successfully generated from a "traditional," non-biodegradable polymer, that is, polystyrene. The effect of initial polymer concentration inside the dialysis membrane, as well as the polymer/solvent system and the ionic strength (electrolyte concentration) of the dialysis solution, on nanoparticle size is examined. A nucleation-aggregation mechanism has been provided to explain the observed trends. Furthermore, we determine the zeta potential as a function of ionic strength for the generated nanoparticles and show that anionic charging may be present in the system.
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