| Novel pH‐responsive PEGylated hollow nanocapsules (HNCaps) were fabricated through a combination of distillation–precipitation copolymerization and surface thiol‐ene “click” grafting reaction. For this purpose, silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) were synthesized by Stöber approach, and then modified using 3‐(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate (MPS). Afterward, a mixture of triethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA; as crosslinker), acrylic acid (AA; as a pH‐responsive monomer), and MPS‐modified SiO2 NPs (as sacrificial template) were copolymerized using distillation–precipitation approach to afford SiO2@PAA core‐shell NPs. The SiO2 core was etched from the SiO2@PAA using HF solution, and the obtained PAA HNCaps were grafted with a thiol‐end capped poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG‐SH) through thiol‐ene “click” reaction to produce PAA‐g‐PEG HNCaps. The fabricated HNCaps were loaded with doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) as a model anticancer drug, and their drug loading and encapsulation efficiencies as well as pH‐dependent drug release behavior were investigated. The anticancer activity of the drug‐loaded HNCaps was extensively evaluated using MTT assay against human breast cancer cells (MCF7). As the cytotoxicity assay results as well as superior physicochemical and biological features of fabricated HNCaps, the developed DOX‐loaded nanomedicines has excellent potential for cancer chemotherapy. |