Synthesis of Tamarind Gum and Poly (N‐isopropyl acrylamide)‐based Copolymer through Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization for Dual‐responsive Release Study

Abstract

Over the past decades, thermoresponsive polymers are attracted much scientific attention and can be widely used in a wide range of applications. Synthesis of polymers throughCfunctionalization of polysaccharide using synthetic materials paves the way for producing much desirable natural biopolymer‐based copolymers. Therefore, this study reported about synthesis of thermo and pH‐responsive polymers, based on tamarind kernel polysaccharide (TKP) and poly (N‐isopropyl acrylamide) (pNIPAM) through atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) with controlled polymer chain length. The chemical structure and surface morphology have been investigated by different characterization techniques. Lower Critical Solution Temperature (LCST) confirmed the thermo‐responsive nature of the copolymer. The self‐aggregation among the polymer chains was found above LCST (34 °C). Rheological characterizations suggested that our prepared copolymers are non‐Newtonian shear thinning in nature. Finally, the developed material shows worthy efficacy towards the thermo‐responsive release of encapsulated dye at pH 7.4 (53 % and 65 % at 37 °C and 25 °C, respectively) suggesting that our prepared material could be a good candidate for therapeutic release in tissue engineering application.