Issue 18, 2012
From the journal:

Journal of Materials Chemistry

Charged drug delivery by ultrafast exponentially grown weak polyelectrolyte multilayers: amphoteric properties, ultrahigh loading capacity and pH-responsiveness†

Weiyong Yuan,abc   Zhisong Luabc  and  Chang Ming Li*abc  

* Corresponding authors

a Institute for Clean Energy & Advanced Materials, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
E-mail: ECMLi@ntu.edu.sg
Fax: +65 6791 1761
Tel: +65 6790 4485

b Chongqing Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials & Technologies of Electric Power Sources, Chongqing 400715, China

c School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering and Centre for Advanced Bionanosystems, Nanyang Technological University, 70 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637457, Singapore

Abstract

Exponentially growing layer-by-layer hierarchical nanoporous films have been used as a promising system for controlled drug loading/release applications. However, its growth mechanism and factors affecting the drug loading/release are still unclear. In this study, high molecular weight branched poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) were utilized as model weak polyelectrolytes to investigate the growth mechanism and the drug loading/release of the multilayers. The pH-dependent growth behavior, interdiffusion of PEI and morphological changes of the film indicate that a pH-dependent polyelectrolyte interdiffusion mechanism is involved in the ultrafast exponential growth process. It is discovered, for the first time, that the fabricated films possess a pH-triggered switchable polarity and tunable charge density associated to the outermost layer, which can enable the loading of anionic or cationic drugs while offering a broad range of pH-controlled release rates and ultralong release times. The multi-layered film has also achieved the highest pH-controlled drug loading/release capacity. This study not only provides a superior platform for the controlled delivery of charged drugs, but also proposes an exponential growth mechanism for weak polyelectrolyte multilayered films.

Graphical abstract: Charged drug delivery by ultrafast exponentially grown weak polyelectrolyte multilayers: amphoteric properties, ultrahigh loading capacity and pH-responsiveness

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C2JM30834G
Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Feb 2012
Accepted
08 Mar 2012
First published
16 Mar 2012

J. Mater. Chem., 2012,22, 9351-9357

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Charged drug delivery by ultrafast exponentially grown weak polyelectrolyte multilayers: amphoteric properties, ultrahigh loading capacity and pH-responsiveness

W. Yuan, Z. Lu and C. M. Li, J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 9351 DOI: 10.1039/C2JM30834G

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