Studies of Polyacrylate Based Nanoparticle Emulsions

Self-stabilizing polyacrylate nanoparticle emulsions were previously investigated in the Turos laboratory, and provided a new model for delivering antibiotics via encapsulation or covalent binding of the desired bioactive compound within the polymer nanoparticles. The method used the in water, free radical emulsion polymerization of butyl acrylate/styrene mixture to form the polymer chain stabilized with a surfactant. Current research in this dissertation further explores the versatility of related nanoparticle emulsion systems. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the loading of certain therapeutic drugs, such as 5-aminosalicylic acid and derivatives thereof, for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Chapter 3 explores homo-polymer nanoparticle emulsions composed of menthyl acrylate as the monomer. Thereby obviating the need for a copolymer emulsion polymerization. The homo(menthyl acrylate) nanoparticle emulsion provided greater stability compared to the previous copolymer models. The resulting homopolymer emulsion exhibited a decrease in cytotoxicity, and a 400% increase for loading of penicillin G. Chapter 4 explores novel polyacrylamide nanoparticle emulsion using only N-acrylated ciprofloxacin to form a homo-polymer polyacrylate nanoparticle emulsion, thereby requiring no additional co-monomers. The resulting emulsion has a relatively low cytotoxicity with similar bioactivity to free ciprofloxacin