PEG

PEG Full Name

Polyetheylene Glycol

PEG Introduction

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a polyether compound that has a wide range of applications in various industries due to its unique properties. PEG is a synthetic polymer made by polymerizing ethylene oxide, and its structure consists of repeating ethylene glycol units. This compound is water-soluble, non-toxic, and has a high molecular weight, which makes it useful in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, and industrial processes.

Figure 1. Polyethylene glycol (PEG).

PEG earns its fame because of its high structure flexibility, biocompatibility, amphiphilicity, devoid of any steric hindrances and high hydration capacity. PEG 100 to PEG 700 are liquids at room temperature, those between 1000 to 2000 are soft solids and PEGs with MW > 2000 are hard crystalline solids with melting points of around 63°C 5. High polarity of PEG increases hydrophilicity and thus enhances water solubility, an outstanding feature among the similar structural polymers.

High solubility of PEG is also observed with most of the organic as well as inorganic solvents and forms a monolayer at air-water interface. It therefore plays an important role in solubilization and permeation. Hydrophilicity is mainly determined by the contact angle. They are also inert in biological environment with poor protein adsorption, low cell activation and adhesion, poor cellular uptake and negligible degree of inflammation. In biomedical and bone scaffolds this confers anti-biofouling effect in vivo, while in nanoparticles it improves upon the drug targeting and bioavailability besides anti- biofouling. It has also been explored in artificial body fluid like formation of artificial red blood cells and plasma expanders mainly due to its hydrophilicity and inert nature.

Alternate Names for PEG

Polyetheylene Glycol; PEG