Synthesis and Characterization of Layer-by-Layer Composition of Nanoparticles Coated with Doxorubicin for Drug Delivery Applications

Magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) have been synthesized by coprecipitation and characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). They were coated several times with PAH (poly(allylamine hydrochloride)) and PAA (polyacrylic acid) using the layer-by-layer technique (LbL). Common techniques like transmission electron microscopy (TEM), FT-IR, Zetapotential and DLS were used to proof the success of the coating and the colloidal stability of the nanoparticles. Due to its auto fluorescence doxorubicin (Dox) was used as a model drug. The successful covalent bonding of the drug to the outer layer PAA of LbL-coated particles was verified by using FT-IR, fluorescence spectroscopy, Zetapotential and DLS. The concentration of the bonded drug was analyzed by UV/Vis measurements of the dialysis water. So the system combines magnetic properties with the therapeutic efficiency, an attractive feature for future drug delivery applications.