Drug permeation modeling through the thermo-sensitive membranes of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) brushes grafted onto micro-porous films

Temperature-sensitive N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) polymer brushes of known molecular weight (20k–25k) were grafted onto micro-porous polycarbonate (PC) films (pore size 0.4 μm) using argon plasma treatment. The resulting composite membranes were tested for controlled drug release at various grafted chain density, which was controlled using 1–3% polymer concentrations. The composites were also characterized in terms of graft yield, membrane thickness, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra and scanning electron micrography (SEM). The drug permeabilities of 4-acetamidophenol and ranitidine HCl in the resulting membranes were determined at temperatures between 30 and 40 °C. The drug permeability changed remarkably at 34 °C, near the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). The drug passage was regulated by swelling (which occurs at a temperature lower than the LCST) or shrinkage (occurring at an elevated temperature) of the PNIPAAm polymer brushes. These membranes demonstrated on–off ratios of drug permeabilities up to 11 and 14 for the model drugs, respectively. These values are higher than most literature data with similar-size model molecules. The excellent on–off valve mechanism was discussed in terms of the suitable molecular weight and grafted chain density in relation to the pore size and porosity of the PC support. A mathematical model was proposed to predict the drug permeation flux based on the gel conformation data, graft density, characteristics of the micro-porous support, and drug concentrations and diffusivities in water and in the PNIPAAm gel. The model can successfully estimate the drug permeation flux through the composite with higher (0.42 mg cm⁻²) graft density with a coefficient of determination of 0.95. The discrepancy between the predicted and experimental data at the lower graft density (0.12 mg cm⁻²) was ascribed to pore channel narrowing resulting from the uneven polymer chain distribution.