Characterization of poly(methyl methacrylate) nanoparticles prepared by nanoprecipitation using analytical ultracentrifugation, dynamic light scattering, and scanning electron microscopy

Nanoprecipitation represents an effective method for the production of polymeric nanoparticles. This technique was used to prepare nanoparticles from solutions of poly(methyl methacrylate) and its copolymers. Since the regulation of main parameters like particle size, particle size distribution, and molar particle mass is very important for future applications, the stable nanoparticle dispersions were examined by scanning electron microscopy, velocity sedimentation, and dynamic light scattering, whereby advantages and disadvantages of each characterization techniques are discussed. Polydispersities of particle size distributions are determined by the ratio of dw/dn, where dw and dn are weight‐ and number‐average diameters, respectively. The particle characteristics strongly depend on the chemical structure of the polymers and the way of preparation and, therefore, vary in the studied cases in the range of 6 < dw < 680 nm, whereas the polydispersity index dw/dn changes in the range of 1.02 to 1.40. It is shown that nanoparticles in a desirable size range can be prepared by solvent–nonsolvent methods (dialysis technique or dropping technique).