Direct grafting modification of pulp in ionic liquids and self-assembly behavior of the graft copolymers

In this paper, a novel biodegradable biomass-based amphiphile was prepared by direct grafting copolymerization of dissolved pulp with hydrophobic poly (l-lactide) in ionic liquids BmimCl. The molecular structures of the obtained copolymers were confirmed with H-1-NMR, C-13-NMR and 2D HSQC NMR, and their physical properties were studied by TGA and XRD analysis. The self-assembly behaviors of these amphiphilies in aqueous solution was characterized by fluorescence spectrum and their critical micelle concentrations (CMC) were determined to be in the range of 0.326-0.062 mg/mL. TEM observations and DLS analysis revealed that the pulp-derived micelles had spherical and uniform morphology and small diameters (25-125 nm). It was also found that the surface tension of these copolymers solution firstly decreased dramatically with increasing concentration and then approached to a plateau value when the concentration was above their CMC value. MTT assay showed that the pulp-derived amphiphilic micelles exhibited good biocompatibility, which informed that these micelles could be expected to be used in biological regions, especially for the hydrophobic drug delivery system.