LAUSR

Nanohydrogels were prepared from copolymerization of acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) and acrylamide (AAm) in presence of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). The direct ionizing radiation of γ-rays was used to initiate the copolymerization reaction. The different concentrations of SLS, variable irradiation doses, a fixed total monomer concentration, and comonomer composition were used. The features of nanohydrogel were characterized by Fourier transform infrared, thermal gravimetric analysis, and BET surface area analysis of porosity. The results confirmed the structure formation of copoly(AMPS/AAm) nanohydrogels. The SLS concentration affects clearly the pore characteristics and nanoparticle sizes. The nanoparticle and pore size distributions referred to that the pores and nanoparticle formed in wide range of nanoscale. The surface area and pore volume depended basically on the SLS concentration. The gel fraction of nanohydrogels ranged from (98 ± 2.3) to (100 ± 1.5)%. The nanohydrogels were used in in vitro release of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) at different simulated fluids. The release profile showed a prolonged release of 5-FU at two different simulated fluids of pHs of 1.2 for simulated gastric fluid and 7.4 for simulated intestinal fluid. The study demonstrated that copoly(AMPS/AAm) nanohydrogel may serve as a promising material for the sustained release of 5-FU in stomach and colon media. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 58:94–102, 2018. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers