Development and characterization of dual sensitive poly(N,N-diethyl acrylamide) grafted alginate microparticles

Abstract

Temperature and pH dual sensitive materials have attracted much interest in the fields of tissue engineering and drug delivery. In this study, a novel temperature and pH dual sensitive poly(N,N-diethyl acrylamide) grafted alginate (A-g-PDEA) microparticles were developed for 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) delivery. The structures of 5-FU loaded A-g-PDEA microparticles were characterized by FTIR, DSC, SEM, and XRD analyses. The effect of PDEA grafting percentage, temperature and pH on the swelling ratio and the release of 5-FU was explored. The obtained results displayed that the 5-FU release was controlled by both the temperature and pH of the medium. Furthermore, A-g-PDEA microparticles demonstrated a sustained release of 5-FU compared to free 5-FU. Moreover, the 5-FU release and swelling ratio of A-g-PDEA microparticles decreased with the increase in grafting percentage, crosslinking time and 5-FU/copolymer ratio. All the results indicated that A-g-PDEA microparticles are promising candidates for the sustained and controlled delivery of drugs.