Synthesis and characterization of poly(ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles with a magnetic core

A method is described to prepare composite colloidal nanoparticles, consisting of a magnetic core (magnetite) and a biodegradable polymeric shell (poly(ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate) or PE-2-CA). The method is based on the so-called anionic polymerization procedure, often used in the synthesis of PE-2-CA nanospheres designed for drug delivery. In the present work, the heterogeneous structure of the particles can confer both magnetic-field responsiveness and potential applicability as a drug carrier. In order to investigate to what extent this target is achieved, we compare the structure, chemical composition, and surface properties of the core/shell particles with those of both the nucleus and the coating material. This preliminary study shows that the synthetic new material displays an intermediate behavior between that of magnetite and PE-2-CA spheres. Thus, electrophoresis measurements as a function of pH and as a function of KNO3 concentration, show great similarity between the core/shell and pure polymer nanoparticles. A similar conclusion is reached when a surface thermodynamic study is performed on the three types of particles: the electron-donor component of the surface free energy of the solids is the quantity that appears to be most sensitive to the surface composition. The fact that PE-2-CA is close to being a non-polar material gives rise to a measurable decrease in the electron-donor component of the surface free energy of core/shell particles as compared to magnetite.