Photocontrolled Cargo Release from Dual Cross-Linked Polymer Particles

Abstract

Burst release of a payload from polymeric particles upon photoirradiation was engineered by altering the cross-linking density. This was achieved via a dual cross-linking concept whereby noncovalent cross-linking was provided by cyclodextrin host-guest interactions, and irreversible covalent cross-linking was mediated by continuous assembly of polymers (CAP). The dual cross-linked particles (DCPs) were efficiently infiltrated (∼80-93%) by the biomacromolecule dextran (molecular weight up to 500 kDa) to provide high loadings (70-75%). Upon short exposure (5 s) to UV light, the noncovalent cross-links were disrupted resulting in increased permeability and burst release of the cargo (50 mol % within 1 s) as visualized by time-lapse fluorescence microscopy. As sunlight contains UV light at low intensities, the particles can potentially be incorporated into systems used in agriculture, environmental control, and food packaging, whereby sunlight could control the release of nutrients and antimicrobial agents.

Light and pH dual‐sensitive biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles for controlled release of cargos

“…Amphiphilic block copolymers (BCs) have been widely applied in drug delivery systems since it can self‐assemble into micelles in selective solvents and hydrophobic drug molecules are easily encapsulated into the hydrophobic core . As an important nanoscale drug carrier, polymeric micelles can increase drug solubility, prolong drug circulation in the bloodstream and improve their efficacy in tumor tissues, thus greatly reducing the side effects of conventional drugs . One major topic of interest for polymer researchers is stimuli‐responsive polymers which have been incorporated into BCs architectures.…”

Controlled ROMP Synthesis of Ferrocene‐Containing Amphiphilic Dendronized Diblock Copolymers as Redox‐Controlled Polymer Carriers

“…The size difference among AFM, SEM, and DLS is attributed to their different determination conditions. The size distribution obtained from DLS indicates the dimensions of both the swollen core and the stretched periphery, while the size determined from AFM and SEM reveals only conformations in the dry state . Whatever, all these results demonstrate that the amphiphilic dendronized diblock copolymer 16 can self‐assemble into spherical micelles in the nanoscale, and the particle size can be infulenced by the composition and concentration of the copolymer.…”

Responsive Systems in Food Packaging

“…Cyclodextrin (CD) are capable of forming reversible interaction with other molecule or polymer because of hydrophobicityinits structure. Using this concept, Tan et al [21] have prepared a dual crosslinked structure to study the controlled release behavior. They used CD-azobenzene to form reversible and CAP ROMP for irreversible crosslinking.…”