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In chemistry, an amphiphile (from Greek αμφις (amphis) 'both' and φιλíα 'love, friendship'), or amphipath, is a chemical compound possessing both hydrophilic (water-loving, polar) and lipophilic (fat-loving, nonpolar) properties. [1] Such a compound is called amphiphilic or amphipathic.
Amphipols (a portmanteau of amphiphilic polymers) are a class of amphiphilic polymers designed to keep membrane proteins soluble in water without the need for detergents, which are traditionally used to this end but tend to be denaturing. [1]
A typical amphiphilic flexible surfactant can form aggregates through a self-assembly process that results of specific interactions between the molecules of the amphiphilic mesogen and those of the non-mesogenic solvent. In aqueous media, the driving force of the aggregation is the "hydrophobic effect". The aggregates formed by amphiphilic ...
IUPAC definition: Micelle: Particle of colloidal dimensions that exists in equilibrium with the molecules or ions in solution from which it is formed. [1] [2] Micelle (polymers) Organized auto-assembly formed in a liquid and composed of amphiphilic macromolecules, in general amphiphilic di- or tri-block copolymers made of solvophilic and ...
Due to this property, amphiphilic block copolymers have garnered much attention in research on vehicles for drug delivery. [39] [40] Similarly, amphiphilic block copolymers can be used for the removal of organic contaminants from water either through micelle formation [2] or film preparation. [41]
Because of their amphiphilic structures, the polymers have surfactant properties that make them useful in industrial applications. Among other things, they can be used to increase the water solubility of hydrophobic, oily substances or otherwise increase the miscibility of two substances with different hydrophobicities.
The low pH environment triggers a quick release of the micelle polymers, causing a majority of the drug to be released at once, rather than gradually like other drug treatments. This quick release mechanism significantly decreases the time it takes for anticancer drugs to kill a tumor, effectively preventing the tumor from having time to ...
While having many of the properties of natural liposomes, polymersomes exhibit increased stability and reduced permeability. Furthermore, the use of synthetic polymers enables designers to manipulate the characteristics of the membrane and thus control permeability, release rates, stability and other properties of the polymersome.