Physichemical property and morphology of 5-fluorouracil loaded chitosan nanoparticles

5-fluorouracil (5-FU), a hydrophilic anticancer drug, was successfully encapsulated into biodegradable chitosan (CS) to form CS/5-FU nanoparticles (NPs) by ionic crosslinking technology. The surface morphology of the pure CS NPs and 5-FU loaded NPs was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM); the interaction between CS and 5-florouracil (5-FU) was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR); the physical state of 5-FU in NPs matrix was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). SEM image shows that the CS NPs are smooth on surface and spherical in shape, and the size is about 300 nm, while drug loaded CS NPs are less regular in shape when compared with pure CS NPs; the FTIR results confirm the strong interaction between polymer matrix and 5-FU; XRD and DSC results demonstrate that 5-FU exists in the NPs in amorphous or solid solution status.