Effect of chitosan multilayers encapsulation on controlled release performance of drug-loaded superparamagnetic alginate nanoparticles.

The near monodispersed ibuprofen-loaded superparamagnetic alginate (AL/IBU/Fe(3)O(4)) nanoparticles with particles size less than 200 nm were prepared via the facile heterogeneous coprecipitation of the superparamagnetic Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles, sodium alginate (AL) and the model drug ibuprofen (IBU) from the aqueous dispersion. Then the chitosan multilayers were self-assembled onto the AL/IBU/Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles to produce novel magnetic-targeted controlled release drug delivery system, with chitosan as the polycation (CS) and the carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) as the polyanion. The drug controlled releasing behaviors of the AL/IBU/Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles and the CS multilayers encapsulated ibuprofen-loaded superparamagnetic alginate ((AL/IBU/Fe(3)O(4))@(CS-CMCS)(3)) nanoparticles were compared in the different pH media. In media with the same pH value, the encapsulated vessels exhibited the slower releasing rate.