Morphology biased pharmacological and mechanical properties of nanosized block copolymers of PNIPAM with polyethylene oxide and polyaminoacids in presence of polycaprolactone

Abstract

AbstractThis work targets to develop amphiphilic self‐assembled PEO‐b‐PAAs‐b‐PNIPAM and PEO‐b‐PAAs‐b‐PNIPAM@PCL nanosized block copolymers (NBCPs) of poly N‐isopropyl acrylamide (PNIPAM) with polyethylene oxide (PEO), and poly amino acids (PAAs) with and without polycaprolactone (PCL) via ring‐opening and condensation polymerization methods. The interesting ring necklace and petunia bell‐shaped flower‐like morphology play an important role in both mechanical behavior and pharmacological actions. The PEO‐b‐PAAs‐b‐PNIPAM@PCL NBCP exhibits a notable antibacterial activity against gram‐negative (Escherichia coli) and gram‐positive (Staphylococcus aureus) with ZOI of 20 ± 4 mm and 18 ± 3 mm, respectively, with MIC 250 μg/ml. The mechanical properties of the NBCPs are measured at room temperature. The PEO‐b‐PAAs‐b‐PNIPAM@PCL NBCP possesses a higher value in each case compared to the neat polymer with the UTS 1.4651 MPa, Y 0.0050 MPa, Tensile strength at yield (1.4048 MPa), TS at break (1.4640 MPa), % elongation at yield (23.5%), elongation % at break (124%) and proportional limit (1.0082 MPa at 8%), respectively. With the improved mechanical strength, effective antibacterial activities along with sustainable drug release rate, the designed material can be used as a potential material for different biomedical applications.