Preparation of polyethyleneimine nanogels via photo-Fenton reaction

Photo-Fenton reaction was used to prepare polyethyleneimine nanogels (M-PEIs) from PEI pre-polymer as potential non-viral gene delivery vectors. Competition between crosslinking and scission of PEI pre-polymer in assembled cluster made the size of particles homogeneous. Morphologies of the nanoparticles in every step showed the existence of self-assembly in aqueous solution. The results indicated that the crosslinking of PEI pre-polymer was mainly initiated via hydrogen abstraction by hydroxyl radicals generated in the systems.