pH effect on the characteristics of mineralized self-assembled polymeric nanocomposites as controlled drug release carriers

Abstract

The use of polymer/inorganic material composites as controlled drug delivery carriers can be promising in the future for the reason of their excellent mechanical properties, drug loading efficiency and controlled release behavior. To develop a controlled drug release carrier, mineralized self-assembled polymeric nanocomposites (POCA nanocomposites) containing caffeic acid (CA) were prepared simply in the presence of Pluronic F-68 and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) at different pH. The solution pH value greatly affected the morphological structure of nanocomposites. POCA7, POCA8 and POCA9 exhibited plate-shaped morphology, however, POCA10 showed only the sphere-like structure. The size of nanocomposites significantly decreased with increasing the solution pH value from 238 ± 19 nm (POCA7) to 61 ± 4 nm (POCA10). The amount of CA loaded on the nanocomposites was also considerably affected by the solution pH value. In addition, these nanocomposites exhibited slow, long-term and controlled release rate in DPBS, and the release rate of CA from the nanocomposites could be adjusted by varying the pH value of the release medium, implying that the POCA nanocomposites might be potentially applicable in controlled drug release systems.