Synthesis and characterization of thermoresponsive polymeric nanoparticles

We synthesized drug-loaded thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) with acrylic acid (poly(NIPAM- co -AA)) nanoparticles. Dynamic light scattering analysis showed that the size of poly (NIPAM- co -AA) nanoparticles was significantly affected by temperatures, indicating that the sizes were changed from 400 nm at 25°C to 100 nm at 37°C. 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis demonstrated the synthesis of poly(NIPAM- co -AA) nanoparticles, showing that drugs (e.g., doxorubicin, retinoic acid) were conjugated with poly(NIPAM- co -AA) nanoparticles. We also analyzed the cumulative release of drugs in a temporal manner, indicating that doxorubicin was highly released from poly(NIPAM- co -AA) nanoparticles at 48 hours compared to retinoic acid. Therefore, this thermoresponsive drug-loaded poly (NIPAM- co -AA) nanoparticle could be a powerful tool for drug delivery and release applications.