PAMAM dendrimers monodisperse distribution

As noted above, the polymers in solution are assumed to be monodisperse spheres with their attendant functional groups randomly distributed therein. While the fifth generation PAMAM dendrimers used in this study have been shown to be quite spherical, the spatial distribution of (terminal) functional groups is less certain[17]. 

In this specific case, the colloid stabilizers are dendrimers, for instance, polyamidoamine (PAMAM), which are hyperbranched polymers that ramify from a single core and form a porous sphere [103, 104] (Scheme 17.1). Dendrimer-encapsulated nanoparticles (DENs) are synthesized by sequestering metal ions within appropriate dendrimers, and then by chemically reducing the resulting composite. They can be synthesized in various media, such as water or ethanol. The size of the nanoparticles is usually nearly monodisperse, and can be tuned by varying the metal-to-dendrimer ratio prior to reduction. Supported catalysts can then he prepared by immobilizing DENs onto a sohd support. As in the case of colloids, the last step, which consists in the removal of dendrimers hy thermal treatment, may lead to an increase in both the metal-particle size and particle-size distribution. 

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