Encapsulation of Magnetic Nanoparticles and Copaíba Oil in Poly(methyl methacrylate) Nanoparticles via Miniemulsion Polymerization for Biomedical Application

Polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) are used for drug delivery, mainly due to their ability to increase the selectivity and therapeutic efficacy of the encapsulated molecules. Alternative therapeutic compounds like magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and copaiba oil are alternatives for the development of more efficient and less aggressive therapeutic systems. The objective of the present work is to synthesize poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanoparticles containing MNPs and copaiba oil (CO) via miniemulsion polymerization. The nanoparticles presented a mean diameter of ≈98 ± 1 nm with narrow particle size dispersion (0.1) and high colloidal stability with zeta potential below −50 ± −3 mV. The miniemulsion polymerization process allowed to incorporate the MNPs and the copaiba oil into the polymer matrix and the nanoparticles presented a saturation magnetization higher than ≈49 emu/g of MNPs and superparamagnetic properties. The evaluated PMMA‐MNPs‐CO concentrations, up to 200 µg mL−1 of MNPs, did not affect fibroblast cells viability.