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JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, vol.115, no.3, pp.1608-1615, 2010 (SCI-Expanded)
Novel hydrophobic nanospheres with an average size of 100 nm utilizing N-methacryloyl-(l)-tryptophan methyl ester (MAT) as a hydrophobic monomer were prepared by surfactant free emulsion polymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and MAT. MAT was synthesized using methacryloyl chloride and I-tryptophan methyl ester. Specific surface area of the nonporous nanospheres was found to be 1914 m(2)/g. Poly(HEMA-MAT) nanospheres were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Average particle size, size distribution, and surface charge measurements were also performed. Elemental analysis of MAT for nitrogen was estimated as 1.95 mmol/g polymer. Then, poly (HEMA-MAT) nanospheres were used in the adsorption of lysozyme in batch system. Using an optimized adsorption protocol, a very high loading of 1075 mg lysozyme/g nanosphere was obtained. The adsorption phenomena appeared to follow a typical Langmuir isotherm. It was observed that enzyme could be repeatedly adsorbed and desorbed without significant loss in adsorption amount or enzyme activity. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 115: 1608-1615, 2010