ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Morphological patterns of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) derivatives synthesized with EGDMA, DEGDMA, and TEGDMA crosslinkers for application as thermosensitive drug carriers

Witold Musial, Vanja Kokol, Tivadar Fecko, and Bojana Voncina

Department of Textile Materials and Design, University of Maribor, Smetanova ul. 17, SL 2000 Maribor, Slovenia

E-mail: witold@ktpl.am.wroc.pl

Abstract: A number of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (polyNIPAM) microgels were prepared with dimethacrylate cross-linking agents of various lengths, ether and ester groups in the backbone, and pendant vinylidine functionality. These materials were characterized by examining their morphological patterns using optical and scanning electron microscopy. When ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) was used as a cross-linking agent, microspheres of approximately 1 μm in diameter were obtained. Diethylene glycol dimethacrylate (DEGDMA) cross-linking resulted in relatively large spherical structures (1–5 μm) as well as spherical nanostructures (200 nm). Using triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) resulted in spheres with diameters between 1 μm and 3 μm. The hydrodynamic particle diameter decreased with the increasing chain length of the dimethacrylate cross-linking agents. The turbidity increased with the temperature of transition points occurring at approximately 31–32°C confirming the thermosensitivity of the obtained polymeric structures.

Keywords: poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) - skin surface temperature - dimethacrylate cross-linking agent - thermosensitivity - scanning electron microscopy - optical microscopy

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-010-0065-z

Chemical Papers 64 (6) 791–798 (2010)