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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Fabrication of Carbon-Based Ionic Electromechanically Active Soft Actuators
Published on: April 25, 2020
Fabrication and characterization of complex nanoparticles based on carboxymethyl short chain amylose and chitosan by
Na Ji1, Yan Hong, Zhengbiao Gu
1The State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 LiHu Avenue, Wuxi-214122, Jiangsu Province, P. R. China. hongyan@jiangnan.edu.cn.
Abstract:
We aimed to investigate whether the combination of the modification of short chain amylose (SCA) with chitosan (CS) through the electrostatic interaction could be considered as a candidate for oral delivery of bioactive ingredients. Carboxymethyl short chain amylose (CMSCA) was synthesized by reacting SCA with monochloroacetic acid. The changes in SCA levels after the reaction were investigated by zeta-potential determination, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetry and derivative thermogravimetry. Complex nanoparticles (NPs) were then synthesized using CMSCA and CS by ionic gelation. FTIR spectral analysis revealed that the complex NPs were synthesized by hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions between CMSCA and CS. CMSCA/CS NPs show an insulin encapsulation efficiency of 85.2% and exhibit sustained release of insulin in vitro. CMSCA/CS NPs were observed to show excellent cytocompatibility by cell culture. These findings demonstrated that CMSCA/CS NPs constructed by the ionic gelation method could be further exploited as a potential oral delivery system for peptide drugs.
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