Magnetically Active Bicontinuous Polymer Structures for Multiple Controlled Drug Delivery

• Published in: Macromolecular bioscience 2024-10, Vol.24 (10), p.e2400084-n/a
• Main Authors: Lacroce, Elisa, Pizzetti, Fabio, Urrego, Nicolás M. Barbosa, Nunziata, Giuseppe, Masi, Maurizio, Rossi, Filippo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Actuation; bijels; colloids; Drug delivery; Drug delivery systems; Hydrophilicity; Hydrophobicity; iron nanoparticles; Iron oxides; Molecular structure; Nanoparticles; Phase separation; Polymers
• ISSN: 1616-5187; 1616-5195; 1616-5195
• DOI: 10.1002/mabi.202400084

The targeted delivery of drugs using wireless navigable magnetic robots allows the delivery of drug molecules to be controlled non only in time but also in space, improving medical outcomes. The main disadvantages behind their use lies in the low amount of drug that can be transported and the single nature of drug that can be loaded (hydrophilic or hydrophobic). These considerations limit their use in co‐delivery systems, now recognized to be very promising for many different pathologies. A magnetic bijel‐like structure is developed to load and release different types of molecules (hydrophilic and hydrophobic). In this work, the use of ε‐caprolactone is explored, which can polymerize, forming hydrophobic domains (oil phase). After mixing with iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs), the water dispersion creates a magnetic biphasic porous structure without phase separation. The resulting device shows good performance both in magnetic actuation and as a drug delivery system. The formation of biphasic structures is studied using iron oxide nanoparticles to create a magnetically driven multiple drug delivery system.