Stimuli-responsive magnetic nanohybrids designed for controlled drug release application

Stimuli-responsive organic/inorganic nanohybrids, with an inorganic core and a polymer coating, have been frequently suggested as a promising vehicle for drug or gene delivery and also controlled release, due to their outstanding biocompatibility, versatile surface modification, specific responsive properties to external stimuli, and so on. Magnetic nanoparticles have various applications in biomedical filed, such as magnetic resonance imaging, biosensors, magnetic separation, drug release, hyperthermia therapy and so on.
Poly (acrylic acid) copolymers exhibit a sharp conformation transition when exposed to external change in pH. The PAA copolymer was used to form a polymer shell outside the magnetic core, a cationic dye was uploaded by electro-static interaction. The controlled release was achieved by tuning the external pH value.
Magnetic/SiO2 mesoporous nanoparticles were prepared as another drug vehicle, in order to obtain a higher drug loading amount. Crystalline molecules were utilized as a gate keeper to control the release of drugs uploaded.