One-step nanomorphology control of self-organized projection coronas in uniform polymeric nanoparticles

Uniform polymeric nanoparticles with various morphologies of projection coronas like the viruses in the coronavirus group have been formed by the self-organization of macromolecular chains polymerizing in a dispersion system of styrene (St), acrylonitrile (AN) and poly(ethylene glycol) monomethoxymonomethacrylate (PEGm) in a polar solvent (water/ethanol). An increase in the water composition reduced the crystallization degree of AN units, resulting in a variety of the nanoparticle morphology such as the increased particle size, the reduced projection size, the increased projection number, and the decreased inter-projection distance. The difference in the projection morphology strongly affected a dispersibility in water.