Tragacanth gum-based nanogel as a superparamagnetic molecularly imprinted polymer for quercetin recognition and controlled release.

A highly selective magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (MMIP) with core-shell structure has been synthesized by a sol-gel process composed of Tragacanth Gum (TG) crosslinker, Fe3O4/SiO2 nanoparticles, and N-vinyl imidazole(VI) functional monomer in the presence of template Quercetin (QC). Different techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), SEM-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to verify the successful synthesis of MIP on the surface of Fe3O4/SiO2 nanoparticles. The swelling behavior of MMIP, its recognition and selectivity for QC and structural analog, Catechin (CT), were tested and compared with magnetic non imprinted polymer (MNIP). MMIP adsorbs the template drug quickly and equilibrium could be reached in 2h. The mechanism for adsorption was found to follow the Langmuir model with the maximum capacity of 175.43 mg g(-1). The MMIP indicated excellent recognition and binding affinity toward QC, selectivity factor (ɛ) relative to CT was 2.16. Finally, the MMIP was evaluated as a drug delivery device by performing in vitro release studies in PBS.