Synthesis and Incorporation of Buffer Components into the Framework of Bioinspired Polyserotonin

Polyserotonin is a new class of bioinspired nanomaterial with recently demonstrated therapeutic potential in biomedical applications and surface coatings. It is therefore important to establish a robust and rapid method of synthesizing polyserotonin nanoparticles (PSeNP) and films for <i>in vivo</i> utilization. Since the formation of PSeNP is based-catalyzed, we report the influence of solution pH, in the presence of different base systems, on the kinetics of PSeNP formation and physico-chemical properties of the resulting polyserotonin. We show that the rate of formation and the size of PSeNP depend on both the nature of the base and the initial pH of the reaction. In addition, we show that buffer components are incorporated into the polymer matrix. While we observe no difference in elasticity of PSeNP synthesized in different buffers, the nanoscale properties of polyserotonin films revealed dissimilarities in surface functional groups influenced by solvent molecules. This presents a significant advance in the polyserotonin synthesis and provides a facile approach in tuning the size and surface functionality of PSe nanomaterial to suit various applications. Furthermore, we show that similar to serotonin, PSeNP also exhibits free-radical scavenging property. Our results demonstrate that PSeNP has the potential to become a key player in the advancement of nanotehcnoogy-mediated antioxidative therapy.