Chitosan-graft-poly（lactic acid） （CS-g-PLA） copolymer was synthesized through emulsion self-assembly in a water-in-oil （W/O） microemulsion. The water phase was composed of CS aqueous solution, while the oil phase was made up of PLA in chloroform. The W/O microemulsion was fabricated in the presence of surfactant span-80 and the self-assembly was performed between PLA and CS under the effect of N-（3-dimethylaminopropyl）-N＇ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride （EDC＇HCI）. FTIR and IH-NMR analysis indicated PLA was grafted onto the backbone of CS via the reaction between the carboxyl groups in PLA and the amino groups in CS. 1H-NMR characterization further revealed the grafting content of PLA was 16%. The obtained CS-g-PLA could self-assemble to form micelles, their size distributed in the range of 125-375 nm with average diameter of 142 nm. The present design integrates the favorable biological properties of CS and the excellent mechanical properties of PLA, which makes CS-g-PLA copolymer a promising candidate as a carrier for targeted bioactive molecules delivery.
