RSC Adv 2026 Jul 03; doi: 10.1039/d6ra02747d.

Transducing magnetism to soft responsive shells: smart nanosystems for magneto-triggered release of ibuprofen.

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Smart nanocarriers have emerged as powerful platforms for externally controlled drug delivery, enabling precise spatial and temporal regulation of release while minimizing systemic side effects. Ibuprofen (IBU), a hydrophobic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug with low aqueous solubility, particularly benefits from delivery systems that improve stability and bioavailability. In this work, we report on the design, synthesis, and evaluation of a smart hybrid nanosystem (SHN) for magnetically induced thermal release of IBU. The SHN consists of a superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPION) core acting as the magnetic module, a mesoporous silica (SiOMP 2) intermediate shell providing drug-loading capacity, surface protection, functional integration, and an outer thermoresponsive poly(di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (PDEGMA) layer enabling remote magneto-actuated temperature-triggered release. Structural and physicochemical characterization by FTIR, TEM, SAXS, and DLS confirmed the successful formation of a well-defined (core@shell)-g-polymer architecture. Magnetization measurements further demonstrated the preservation of superparamagnetic behavior with zero coercivity and a saturation magnetization of approximately 60 emu g-1. IBU was efficiently loaded into the SHN through a multistep impregnation procedure. In situ release studies performed in tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer (pH 7.8) showed pronounced thermoresponsive behavior, with up to 88% of the loaded IBU released at 50 °C, whereas significantly lower release was observed under physiologically relevant conditions. Notably, magnetic field-triggered release was approximately 7-fold greater than conventional thermal release at equivalent experimental times. This enhanced release occurred despite a macroscopic cooling of the dispersion during the radiofrequency magnetic fields experiment, suggesting that localized nanoscale heating at the SPION-polymer interface, rather than bulk heating, is the primary driver of the magneto-thermal transduction mechanism. Overall, these findings demonstrate that (SPION@SiOMP 2)-g-PDEGMA SHN represents a promising platform for remotely triggered IBU delivery, combining magnetic responsiveness, controlled release capability, and structural versatility with strong potential for biomedical applications.

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