Chen, WeiMulder, KennethBroaders, KyleChopade, Aaditi2023-06-022023-06-022023-06-02http://hdl.handle.net/10166/6421Biopolymers are an attractive avenue for drug delivery applications due to their abundance, biocompatibility, sustainability, and flexible modification. Cellulose-based materials are especially appealing, but their development is often hampered by the poor solubility of their parent polymer. Hydrophobic groups can be reversibly grafted onto a biopolymer to make oxidation-sensitive solubility switching materials. While cellulose has a wide range of applications, from medical applications, such as wound healing devices, to packaging materials, there have been fewer studies on using modified cellulose as a targeted drug delivery vehicle. This project expands on the current knowledge of cellulose modifications and optimizes the creation of modified cellulose-based drug delivery vehicles. Reactive oxidation species (ROS) sensitive groups were substituted on cellulose to make hydrogen peroxide-responsive hydrophobic films and microparticles. The modified cellulose was prepared through a solution-phase reaction. The modified polymer can be fashioned into microparticles or films, which were investigated to encapsulate hydrophobic cargo and release the payload under oxidizing conditions. The new material may hold promise in drug eluting depot formations like stents, sutures, or beads. The project successfully developed an oxidation-sensitive modified cellulose drug delivery vehicle. Four ROS- sensitive groups (pinacol-modified aryl-boronic ester, pinanediol-modified aryl-boronic ester, thioether, and thioester) were grafted onto cellulose. Thioester-modified cellulose was oxidation sensitive and could be formulated as microparticles. Nile red and rhodamine 6G were encapsulated in thioester-modified cellulose to determine if the polymer could hold therapeutics. SEM imaging revealed that the particles formed by the nile red encapsulated polymer were independent and uniform with a diameter of 500nm. Due to time limitations, the unloaded polymer was not imaged but it can be theorized that the diameter is less than 500 nm.en-USDrug DeliveryCelluloseThesisrestricted