Oligoagarose-g-polycaprolactone loaded nanoparticles for drug delivery applications

Abstract

Well-defined oligoagarose-g-polycaprolactone copolymers of varying PCL chain lengths have been synthesised using protection/deprotection chemistry. The graft copolymers showed amphiphilic behaviour with spherical micelles in the size range 10 to 20 nm. Ketoprofen was loaded into the core of the micelles. The drug loading efficiency was shown to increase with the length of the hydrophobic PCL chain: 2% for PCL₁₀ and 5.5% for PCL₁₅. Sustained drug release was observed over a period of 72 h and was faster with shorter PCL chains.