Toward pH-Responsive Coating Materials—High-Throughput Study of (Meth)acrylic Copolymers

The release behavior of a model compound (β-naphthol orange) encapsulated in (meth)acrylate-based statistical copolymers under different environmental conditions was investigated. From monomers of varying polarity (methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, tert-butyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate, and benzyl methacrylate) in combination with methacrylic acid, five polymer series were synthesized by free radical polymerization. The pH-dependent release kinetics were investigated via UV–vis spectroscopy at pH 1.2 and 6.8, simulating physiological conditions in the stomach and intestines. Furthermore, the influence of different ethanol contents (0 and 40 vol %) in the acidic medium was investigated. The whole approach was designed to meet the requirements of a high-throughput experimentation workflow.