Natshisa MahattanadulPanya SunintaboonPiyawan SirithipPatoomratana TuchindaMahidol UniversityCenter of Excellent for Innovation in Chemistry (PERCH-CIC)2018-12-112019-03-142018-12-112019-03-142016-08-17Journal of Microencapsulation. Vol.33, No.6 (2016), 563-56814645246026520482-s2.0-84984870732https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/43357© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This work presents the evaluation of chitosan-functionalised poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (CS/PHEMA) core-shell microgels as drug delivery carriers. CS/PHEMA microgels were prepared by emulsifier-free emulsion polymerisation with N,N ′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker. The study on drug loading, using salicylic acid (SA) as a model drug, was performed. The results showed that the encapsulation efficiency (EE) increased as drug-to-microgel ratio was increased. Higher EE can be achieved with the increase in degree of crosslinking, by increasing the amount of MBA from 0.01 g to 0.03 g. In addition, the highest EE (61.1%) was observed at pH 3. The highest release of SA (60%) was noticed at pH 2.4, while the lowest one (49.4%) was obtained at pH 7.4. Moreover, the highest release of SA was enhanced by the presence of 0.2 M NaCl. The pH- and ionic-sensitivity of CS/PHEMA could be useful as a sustained release delivery device, especially for oral delivery.Mahidol UniversityChemical EngineeringChemistryArticleSCOPUS10.1080/02652048.2016.1225844