Techniques for Characterization of Anticancer Drug Loaded Polymeric Nanoparticles: A Review

Abstract

Polymeric nanoparticles have been used for targeted drug delivery against different diseases during last decades. Particularly in cancer, targeted polymeric nanoparticles can be used to deliver anticancer drugs to cancer cells with reduced cytotoxicity and greater efficacy. Various natural polymers like chitosan, albumin, gelatin and synthetic such as Polylactides (PLA), Poly (Lactide co-Glycolides) (PLGA) have been researched as carrier of anticancer drugs. Ionic gelation, solvent evaporation, nanoprecipitation, dialysis is some common methods for preparation of polymeric nanoparticles. Since nanoparticles are in dimension of 1–1000 nanometers, it becomes very important to characterize them. Several techniques have been developed for characterization of polymeric nanoparticles e.g. Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) etc. This review focuses on various techniques used for characterization of anticancer drug loaded polymeric nanoparticles.

Keywords: DLS, FTIR, SEM, TEM, XRD

Cite this Article

Kumar Naresh, Kumar Ajay, Jogi Mukesh Kumar. Techniques for Characterization of Anticancer Drug Loaded Polymeric Nanoparticles: A Review. Journal of Nanoscience, Nanoengineering and Applications. 2015; 5(2): 32–43p.