Anisotropic stimuli-responsive polymeric particles have previously shown crucial advances in therapeutic delivery. Herein, we synthesized cubical hydrogel microparticles by crosslinking PMAA layers within PMAA/poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVPON) multilayers adsorbed inside the pores of porous sacrificial templates.  We investigated the properties of a particle template, including, porosity, and surface morphology on the properties of the hydrogel microparticles. Using optical microscopy, we show that the pH-triggered swelling of PMAA hydrogel cubes is dependent on the hydrogel internal architecture such as hollow capsule-like or non-hollow hierarchical hydrogels. Using BET method and SEM, we found that the internal hydrogel structure depends on the template’s calcination time and temperature. We studied the loading efficiency of hydrophilic drug Doxorubicin (DOX) inside the hydrogel cubes by UV-vis spectroscopy. The loading efficiency was found to correlate with the structural composition of the network and morphology of the hydrogels, which can be controlled by the porosity of the template. The effects of hydrogel surface charge on loading and release of DOX were also studied using zeta-potential measurements. This work provides insight on the effect of structural composition, network morphology, and pH-induced swelling of the cubical hydrogels and may advance the development of stimuli-responsive vehicles for targeted anticancer drug delivery.

Cubical hydrogel particles: Effects of particle morphology on drug loading

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ACS Fall 2022

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