Abstract

The increasing incidence of chronic diseases worldwide has encouraged the discovery of treatment alternatives for chronically ill patients. To increase patient compliance and diminish secondary effects, delayed drug release systems have been developed. However, current pharmaceutical coatings still face limitations in targeting, loading efficiency, and pH tunability when administered orally. In this thesis, we demonstrate the potential of using atomic layer deposition (ALD) as a technique to coat 5-Aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA)—a drug to treat inflammatory bowel disease—to control 5-ASA's release throughout the gastrointestinal tract. 5-ASA was coated with 300 cycles of Al2O3 and 200 cycles ZnO ALD and was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning transmission electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and UV-visible spectroscopy, to confirm 5-ASA as a viable ALD substrate and its ability to be studied at a wavelength of 298 nm for release rate characterization. Three different form factors of 5-ASA—pellets, films, and powders— which were coated with 300 cycles of Al2O3 ALD were studied via UV-Vis in acidic HCl pH 4 media. To further understand the etching rate of Al2O3 films, quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) crystals were coated following the same ALD protocols used in our UV-Vis studies. Based on the results gathered from 5-ASA coated with Al2O3 ALD, equivalent studies were made with ZnO inorganic film coatings via ALD. This thesis demonstrates and encourages ALD's potential in coating 5-ASA as a proof-of concept to achieve delayed and controlled drug release that is tunable based on the ALD coating thickness and chemistry.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2022

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Banerjee, Parag

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Graduate Studies

Department

Nanoscience Technology Center

Degree Program

Nanotechnology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0009668; DP0027636

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0027636

Language

English

Release Date

February 2026

Length of Campus-only Access

3 years

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Campus-only Access)

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Restricted to the UCF community until February 2026; it will then be open access.

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