In Situ Photopolymerization of Acrylamide Hydrogel to Coat Cellulose Acetate Nanofibers for Drug Delivery System

Mohamed F Attia; Ahmed S Montaser; Md Arifuzzaman; Megan Pitz; Khouloud Jlassi; Angela Alexander-Bryant; Stephen S Kelly; Frank Alexis; Daniel C Whitehead

doi:10.3390/polym13111863

In Situ Photopolymerization of Acrylamide Hydrogel to Coat Cellulose Acetate Nanofibers for Drug Delivery System

Polymers (Basel). 2021 Jun 3;13(11):1863. doi: 10.3390/polym13111863.

Authors

Mohamed F Attia^{1

2}, Ahmed S Montaser³, Md Arifuzzaman¹, Megan Pitz⁴, Khouloud Jlassi⁵, Angela Alexander-Bryant⁴, Stephen S Kelly⁶, Frank Alexis⁷, Daniel C Whitehead¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA.
² Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
³ Textile Research Division, Pretreatment and Finishing Department, National Research Center, Dokki, Cairo 12622, Egypt.
⁴ Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA.
⁵ Center for Advanced Materials, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar.
⁶ Department of Forest Biomaterials, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA.
⁷ School of Biological Sciences and Engineering, Yachay Tech University, Urcuqui 100650, Ecuador.

Abstract

In this study we developed electrospun cellulose acetate nanofibers (CANFs) that were loaded with a model non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) (ibuprofen, Ib) and coated with poly(acrylamide) (poly-AAm) hydrogel polymer using two consecutive steps: an electrospinning process followed by photopolymerization of AAm. Coated and non-coated CANF formulations were characterized by several microscopic and spectroscopic techniques to evaluate their physicochemical properties. An analysis of the kinetic release profile of Ib showed noticeable differences due to the presence or absence of the poly-AAm hydrogel polymer. Poly-AAm coating facilitated a constant release rate of drug as opposed to a more conventional burst release. The non-coated CANFs showed low cumulative drug release concentrations (ca. 35 and 83% at 5 and 10% loading, respectively). Conversely, poly-AAm coated CANFs were found to promote the release of drug (ca. 84 and 99.8% at 5 and 10% loading, respectively). Finally, the CANFs were found to be superbly cytocompatible.

Keywords: cellulose acetate; drug delivery; electrospinning; kinetic release; nanofibers; poly(acrylamide) hydrogel.