Preparation of PEGylated Iodine‐Loaded Nanoparticles via Polymer‐Directed Self‐Assembly

Abstract The preparation of size‐tunable PEGylated, iodine‐loaded nanoparticles is investigated for biomedical applications. Di‐iodination of polyvinyl phenol and encapsulation of the iodinated polymer via directed self‐assembly with an amphiphilic polyethylene glycol‐based diblock copolymer are reported. Nanoparticles with iodine loadings up to 45 wt% are achieved using a rapid, scalable process. The size of the nanoparticles can be readily tuned between 35 and 130 nm by increasing the ionic strength of the antisolvent used during nanoparticle self‐assembly. The resulting PEGylated iodine‐loaded nanoparticles have potential applications in nanomedicine for 1) quantitative biodistribution analysis via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) or 2) X‐ray contrast in biomedical imaging. For quantitative biodistribution studies using ICP‐MS, a limit of detection of 2 µg mL−1 in mouse serum is achieved. For biomedical imaging, the X‐ray attenuation rates are comparable to currently commercially available iodine‐based contrast agents. Therefore, encapsulation of the iodinated polymer enables formulation of trackable, size tunable nanoparticles as a versatile platform for developing nanomedicines.