Extended Release Antibacterial Layer-by-Layer Films Incorporating Linear-Dendritic Block Copolymer Micelles

Abstract

The electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly approach offers large potential in the area of drug delivery from thin films; however, because the processing technique is aqueous-based, there have been few strategies proposed to incorporate hydrophobic molecules into these films. Here we create an LbL film that is capable of incorporating hydrophobic drug at high loadings via encapsulation with linear-dendritic block copolymer micelles and demonstrate for the first time release times of a hydrophobic antibacterial agent over a period of several weeksa significant improvement over reports of other micelle-encapsulated thin films with release times of several minutes. The amphiphilic linear-dendritic block copolymer is composed of poly(propylene oxide) (PPO), which forms the hydrophobic core creating the compartment for hydrophobic drug encapsulation, and poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM), which forms the outer corona of the micelle. The PAMAM is polycationic, enabling LbL deposition with negatively charged poly(acr...