Figure 2 Preparation of the Au rod @pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel. (1, 2) Schematic of the sequence of steps in the synthesis of the hybrid Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogels, (3) ZnPc4 loading process, and (4) NIR-mediated ZnPc4 release. Figure 3 The UV–vis spectra of (a) AuNRs and (b) Au rod @pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel. Figure 4 The typical TEM images of AuNRs (A) before and (B) after modification with pNIPAAM-PEGMA, respectively. Raman spectra were also used to identify the synthesis of the Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel. The Raman spectrum of the as-prepared AuNRs selleck kinase inhibitor (Figure 5a) exhibited a band at 190 nm which was ascribable

to the Au-Br bond on the surface of AuNRs [27]. This is because the as-prepared AuNRs were stabilized by the cationic detergent cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in the aqueous solution. After being modified with pNIPAAm-PEGMA (Figure 5b), the Au-Br band disappeared, and a band at 320 nm was observed, which was assigned to the Au-S bond [28]. It is

thus suggested that PEGMA-SH might replace CTAB to form PEGMA-modified AuNRs through the Au-S bond, and then, PEGMA-SH on the surface of AuNRs might serve as the template for the following polymerization and cross-linking of NIPAAm and PEGMA. Figure 5 The Raman spectra of (a) AuNRs and (b) Au rod @pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel. FTIR spectra (Figure 6) were recorded to confirm the structure of the polymer shell. In the FTIR spectrum of PEGMA-modified AuNRs (Figure 6a), the absorption peaks of PEGMA, including ν(C=O) (1,721 cm−1) and ν(C-O-C) (1,105 cm−1), were observed. The spectrum of O-methylated flavonoid Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogels (Figure 6b) exhibited the characteristic see more peaks of polymerized NIPAAm at 1,650 cm−1 (ν(C=O), amide I) and 1,550 cm−1 (δ(N-H), amide

II). Hence, the FTIR results could provide evidence for the surface modification and polymerization on AuNRs. Figure 6 FTIR spectra of (a) Au@PEGMA and (b) Au rod @pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel. Thermosensitive property of Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel Figure 7 and Table 1 showed the effect of the molar ratios of NIPAAm/PEGMA on the LCSTs of the Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel. The Aurod@pNIPAAm (the molar ratio of NIPAAm/PEGMA, 1:0) exhibited an LCST of approximately 32°C, which was consistent with pure pNIPAAm [13]. It is clearly shown in Table 1 that the LCSTs of the Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel could be tuned by changing the molar ratio of NIPAAm/PEGMA. Namely, as the molar ratio of NIPAAm/PEGMA decreased, the LCST of the nanogel increased. For example, when the molar ratio of NIPAAm/PEGMA was set at 18:1, the LCST of Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogels could be up to 36°C. The addition of hydrophilic PEGMA increased the hydrophilicity of pNIPAAm due to the strong interactions between water and hydrophilic groups on the polymer, which led to an increased LCST [29]. It is thus expected that this attractive property of tunable LCST might make Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogels more promising in drug delivery application.