Thermosensitive PNIPAM-b-HTPB block copolymer micelles: molecular architectures and camptothecin drug release

Two kinds of thermo-sensitive poly(N-isoproplacrylamide) (PNIPAM) block copolymers, AB4 four-armed star multiblock and linear triblock copolymers, were synthesized by ATRP with hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) as central blocks, and characterization was performed by (1)H NMR, FT-IR and SEC. The multiblock copolymers could spontaneously assemble into more regular spherical core-shell nanoscale micelles than the linear triblock copolymer. The physicochemical properties were detected by a surface tension technique, nano particle analyzer, TEM, DLS and UV-vis measurements. The multiblock copolymer micelles had lower critical micelle concentration than the linear counterpart, TEM size from 100 to 120 nm and the hydrodynamic diameters below 150 nm. The micelles exhibited thermo-dependent size change, with low critical solution temperature about 33-35 °C. The characteristic parameters were affected by the composition ratios, length of PNIPAM blocks and molecular architectures. The camptothecin release demonstrated that the drug release was thermo-responsive, accompanied by the temperature-induced structural changes of the micelles. MTT assays were performed to evaluate the biocompatibility or cytotoxicity of the prepared copolymer micelles.