Dendrimer Assembly in Solution and at Interfaces

Dendrimers are multi-functional nano structured polymers with a wide range of potential pharmaceutical applications. In contrast to the behavior of typical colloidal particles, dendrimer aggregation in aqueous solution is more pronounced at low ionic strengths, attributed to the interpenetration of dendrimer branches on neighboring molecules at low ionic strengths. Similarly, adsorption isotherms for dendrimer adsorption on alumina particles were strongly influenced by ionic strength and pH and were described by the Langmuir model, enabling the calculation of free energy of adsorption (DeltaG
_ads
), surface affinity constants and dendrimer area per molecule. (DeltaG
_ads
values were in the range -46 to -58 kJ mol
^-1
, significantly greater than observed for the adsorption of monovalent species. Here we report the solution and interfacial properties of dendrimers and show that dendrimer association is strongly influenced by solution conditions.