Effect of molecular weight and stirring speed in janus particle formation

Janus particles are colloidal particles with more than one type of surface chemistry or composition that shows a promising potential as a drug delivery system due to their dual functionality and anisotropic property. Analysis of Janus particles parameters such as molecular weight, polymer to surfactant ratio, and hydrophilic to hydrophobic polymer ratio are crucial in order to understand its effect to the Janus particle formation. This report studies the Janus particle formation in three polymer combinations, PLGA/EVA, PLGA/PCL with Mn =10 000, and PLGA/PCL with Mn = 80 000. The effect of molecular weight and weight ratio to Janus particles formation were investigated by varying different weight ratios with a constant total weight. It was observed that the probability of Janus particle formation increases with increasing PLGA weight ratio. We have also discovered that PLGA/EVA polymer combination has the highest Janus particle formation probability, compared to the other two combinations. Lastly, the effect of stirring speed to particle size and Janus particle formation was done by stirring at a range of speeds. It was observed that by increasing stirring speed we will achieve a smaller particle size and a higher probability of Janus particle formation.Bachelor of Engineering (Materials Engineering