Pii: S0032-3861(98)00546-1

Water and solute or drug transport in crosslinked polymeric materials was investigated to determine the effects of polymer morphology, composition and solute properties on transport behavior. Two crosslinked polymer systems, poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-methyl methacrylate) (P(HEMA-co-MMA)) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), were used in water transport and solute release experiments. Structural parameters of the polymers investigated in this work included the initial polymer molecular weight, the nominal crosslinking ratio, and the copolymer composition. Swelling rates, water diffusion coefficients and the diffusional Deborah number, De, were used to characterize the water uptake process. Swelling rates correlated well with the polymer network mesh sizes; the slowest rate of water uptake was observed in P(HEMA-co-MMA) samples containing large quantities of methyl methacrylate. Initial crosslinking ratios had a sizable effect on water uptake in crosslinked PVA samples but not in the P(HEMA-co-MMA) polymers. Drug release rates, drug diffusion coefficients and the swelling interface number, Sw, were used to characterize solute transport. Release experiments were conducted using eight solutes: theophylline, triamterene, oxprenolol HCl, buflomedil HCl, vitamin B12, dextran, inulin and myoglobin. Release rates decreased with increasing solute molecular weight. A molecular weight cut-off, beyond which drug release was greatly hindered by the hydrogel mesh size, was established for each polymer tested. q 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.