Issue 10, 2021

Polymer micro-particles formed by thiol–ene suspension polymerization using canola oil as a diluent solvent

Abstract

This work demonstrates the use of canola oil as a biologically compatible solvent for a thiol–ene driven suspension polymerization that effectively creates micron-sized particles. A 1 : 1 thiol to alkene functional group stoichiometry was maintained for all formulations. Thymol was incorporated into these particles during synthesis as a naturally derived, lipophilic drug with known anti-microbial properties and use in agriculture as a pesticide. UV-Vis spectroscopy demonstrated the removal of surfactant and any excess reagents to be 99% effective. Particle size was dependent on stirring speed with faster stirring resulting in smaller particles. The release of thymol from the selected ten formulations was measured with UV-Vis spectroscopy at a wavelength of 275 nm for ten days and was shown to be tailorable by altering the amount of crosslinker and surfactant used during the creation of the particles. A smaller molar ratio of 2-functional thiol monomer compared to 4-functional thiol monomer (0.1 : 0.9) crosslinker and a higher molar ratio of 2-functional alkene monomer compared to mono-functional alkene surfactant (0.9 : 0.1) resulted in the slower release of thymol. A higher molar ratio of 2-thiol to 4-thiol monomer (0.8 : 0.2) and a lower molar ratio of 2-alkene to surfactant (0.5 : 0.5) resulted in faster-releasing particles. The Peppas–Sahlin equation used to model the thymol release found that a super case II drug release mechanism that relies on physical interactions between the polymer chains determined the amount of thymol released. The utility of canola oil as a solvent for a polymer particle delivery system holds promise for their use in environmentally sensitive applications such as a pesticide carrier and anti-microbial products.

Graphical abstract: Polymer micro-particles formed by thiol–ene suspension polymerization using canola oil as a diluent solvent

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 Dec 2020
Accepted
01 Apr 2021
First published
19 Apr 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Mater. Adv., 2021,2, 3378-3384

Polymer micro-particles formed by thiol–ene suspension polymerization using canola oil as a diluent solvent

J. S. Cobb, C. Chapusha, J. Gaikwad, J. Michael and A. V. Janorkar, Mater. Adv., 2021, 2, 3378 DOI: 10.1039/D0MA00991A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements