Research Scholar AwardPolymer-protected medical nanoparticles have become an area of interest for drug delivery and medical imaging. Protection by polymer micelles allows for the use of drugs that are toxic to the body, insoluble in the blood stream, or cleared by the kidneys prematurely. Additionally, drug nanoparticles can be modified to have fluorescent and magnetic properties, which allow for greater control and ease of imaging. However, the molecular process that controls the formation of these micelles is not yet well understood and creating micelles with a controllable size at a commercial level has not yet been accomplished. Because it is not feasible to observe the aggregation process experimentally, it is most effective to use computer models to observe and make predictions. The objectives of this study are to successfully model the encapsulation of nanoparticles during micelle formation using flash nanoprecipitation and to alter the controllable parameters of the system, such as mixing time and solute and polymer concentrations, to suggest parameters for creating homogenous micelles on a commercial scale. We use dissipative particle dynamics (DPD), a coarse-grained simulation method in which each “bead” in the simulation box represents several monomers or water molecules, to study aggregation behavior of a model systems containing water, amphiphilic block copolymers, and nanoparticles. We have observed the aggregation process and have shown how changing certain parameters (e.g. nanoparticle/polymer ratio) affects the system. Understanding which parameter values cause ideal aggregate formation can lead to commercial availability of polymer protected medical nanoparticles, which allow for more targeted drug delivery and can be of great importance when traditional delivery methods result in widespread cell death.Research Scholar Award (Undergraduate Research Office), Ohio Supercomputing Center, the National Science Foundation grant CMMI-1344567No embargoAcademic Major: Biomedical Engineerin
