Materials Science Forum, Vol.426-4, 3091-3096, 2003
Preparation of thermosensitive hybrid hydrogels for biomaterials in drug release
Two series of (N-isopropylacrylamide, NIPAAm)-siloxane copolymeric hydrogels were prepared from copolymerization of NIPAAm/3-acrylamidopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMOS)(NA-series) and NIPAAm/3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMOS)(NM-series). The swelling behaviors and mechanical properties were investigated. Swelling ratios decrease and mechanical strength increase with the increase of content of silane monomers in the present hybrid gels. Swelling ratios were also affected by the monomer concentration, amount of crosslinking agent, and environmental solution. Due to have a more hydrophobic ester group, the NIPAAm/MPTMOS copolymeric hydrogels have relatively lower swelling ratios than the NIPAAm/APTMOS copolymeric hydrogels. The drug release behaviors were also investigated by changing silane content in the copolymeric hydrogels, drug species, monomer concentration, and temperature modulation. The results showed that the release ratios of copolymeric hydrogels would decrease with the increase of content of silane monomers and would be influenced by the interaction between gel and drug, the compactness of gel network, and monomer concentration.