Since most of the anticancer drugs have low solubility in water, the clinical use of them is limited unless by some modification the solubility increases or the drug is carried with a soluble compartment. To solve this problem, we prepared a magnetic nanocarrier with a hydrophobic surface based on oleic acid chains in which hydrophobic drug molecules such as doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) and paclitaxel (PTX) are easily adsorbed onto the surface. Since the drug molecules are physically adsorbed on the surface, large amounts of DOX (282 mg·g–1) and PTX (316 mg·g–1) were immobilized onto the nanocarrier. Then, the surface of the drug loaded magnetic core was covered by a smart pH-sensitive shell based on sodium alginate. The alginate shell around the magnetic core increased the stability and biocompatibility of the drug loaded nanocarrier. The results of the drug release profile showed that the drug molecules were released faster in acidic medium than in the neutral medium. The MTT assay of the nanocarrier showed low toxicity toward MCF-7 and HeLa cells, while the drug loaded nanocarrier had high toxicity, even higher than the free drugs. Owing to these advantages, the resulting nanocarrier exhibits a promising potential for delivery of hydrophobic drug molecules in clinical applications.

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