Preparation and thermoresponsive behaviors of UV-crosslinked gelatin nanogels

Abstract

UV-crosslinked gelatin nanogel was prepared without using chemical crosslinking agents and its thermoresponsive behaviors were investigated. The particle size of the nanogels decreased on heating, which is attributed to the helix-to-coil transition of gelatin. On the other hand, the increase in the particle size on cooling was not observed in the quiescent solutions, but was noticeably accelerated by the application of shear stress.