Amphiphilic copolymers of N-vinylpyrrolidone and acrylic acid were prepared by radical polymerization of comonomers with initiator azodiisobutironitrile in the presence of octadecylmercaptan.
By analyzing the trajectory of nanoparticles, the ability of the synthesized polymers to form stable nanosized particles (60-170 nm) in an aqueous medium has been revealed.
The conditions have been identified that make it possible to obtain products with the highest yield at various contents of acrylic acid units in the copolymers. The dependences of the number average molecular weight and the yield of copolymers on the concentration of octadecyl mercaptan and the ratio of monomers was determined. The resulting copolymers can be used as drug carriers.