Surface initiated ring-opening polymerization of lactones on iron oxide nanoparticles

In this work we report the synthesis of hybrid magnetic core-shell nanostructure with inorganic core consisting of magnetite surface-functionalized by glycolic acid or serine. For the attachment of the polymer chain on the preformed functionalized magnetite we applied the 'grafting-from' strategy, where the polymerization is initiated directly from the particles surface to give a high number of end attached polymer chains. The surface initiated ROP of ε-caprolactone and lactic acid was initiated by the common catalysts, tin (II) 2-ethylhexanoate (Sn(oct)2) produced poly(ε-caprolactone), polylactic acid, respectively, containing one hydroxyl chain. Moreover we performed the surface initiated ROP of ε-caprolactone microwave assisted in the presence of Sn(oct)2. The morphology of magnetic core-shell nanostructure was determined by TEM. The chemical structure of the obtained polyesters coated magnetic nanoparticles was characterized by FT-IR.