Modification of Polyvinyl Alcohol via Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization for Targeted Drug Delivery Applications

In current study,a hydrogel based on biocompatible polymerwas prepared. The functionalization of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)with epichlorohydrin(ECH) to produce epichlorohydrin-g-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA/ECH) as a suitable macroinitiator for atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) reaction was investigated.ThenN-vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP) waspolymerized on the surface of macroinitiatorin presence of CuCl as a catalyst and Pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as aligand using ATRP to produce PNVP-g-PVA. The synthesized copolymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Also equilibrium swelling was studied in distilled water and indicated the sustained expansion of them. At last, loading capacity and release profiles of ceftriaxone as a model drug from the hydrogel were determined by UV– Vis absorption measurement at λmax= 243 nm. In vitro drug release behavior was investigated in three different media (HCl solution: pH=3 and bicarbonate buffer solutions: pH=7 and pH=8).