SSIMS analysis of methacrylate copolymers employed in drug delivery

This study reports on the use of static secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SSIMS) to chemically characterize complex methacrylate copolymers used in the pharmaceutical industry for controlled drug delivery. Ions diagnostic of the component monomer residues were detected, which could be interpreted using a fragmentation model for alkylmethacrylate homopolymers proposed previously. This model is extended to include the SSIMS analysis of nitrogen-containing methacrylate copolymer residues.