Multi-responsive polymeric microcontainers for potential biomedical applications: synthesis and functionality evaluation

Temperature and pH responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-methacrylic acid) (P(NIPAAm-co-MAA)) microcontainers with encapsulated magnetic nanoparticles in the shell were prepared by a two-stage distillation precipitation polymerization. PMAA@Fe3O4/P(NIPAAm-co-MAA) coreshell nanoparticles were synthesized by the second-stage polymerization of NIPAAm, MAA and N, N'-methylenebisacrylamide as crosslinker in the presence of magnetic nanoparticles and PMAA as core. These novel triple-functional microcontainers were prepared by selective removal of the PMAA core in water. Daunorubicin hydrochloride (DNR) was loaded into the microcontainers and the release profile was studied by UVvisible spectroscopy. The synthesized nanostructures were characterized with transmission and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The magnetic properties were evaluated by vibrating sample magnetometry. The shrink and swelling behavior was studied by dynamic light scattering. Copyright (C) 2012 Society of Chemical Industry