OBJECTIVE To investigate cross-linked hydrogels prepared via inverse emulsion polymerization to entrap poorly aqueous soluble drugs. Polyethylene glycol cross-linked acrylic polymers were synthesized and the loading and release of curcumin, a model hydrophobic drug, was investigated. METHODS Physicochemical characteristics of hydrogels were studied with (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance, Fouri...

Hydrogels sensitive to electric current are usually made of polyelectrolytes and undergo erosion, swelling, de-swelling or bending in the presence of an applied electric field. The electrical conductivity of many polymeric materials used for the fabrication of biomedical devices is not high enough to achieve an effective modulation of the functional properties, and thus, the incorporation of co...

Hydrogels are three-dimensional polymeric networks those swell quickly by imbibing a large amount of water or deswell in response to even miniscule changes in their external environment. The water uptake or swelling may be thousands of times of their initial volume in water. The volume phase transitions as a response to different stimuli make these materials interesting objects of scientific ob...

Semi-synthetic, proteolytically degradable polymer hydrogels have proven effective as scaffolds to augment bone and skin regeneration in animals. However, high costs due to expensive peptide building blocks pose a significant hurdle towards broad clinical usage of these materials. Here we demonstrate that tri-amino acid peptides bearing lysine (or arginine), flanked by two cysteine residues for...

Temperature-sensitive hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels were synthesized by photopolymerization of vinyl group modified HA in combination with acrylate group end-capped poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(propylene glycol)-poly(ethylene glycol) tri-block copolymer (Pluronic F127). The synthesized HA/Pluronic composite hydrogels gradually collapsed with increasing temperature over the range of 5-40 degrees ...

A novel pH-responsive superabsorbent hydrogel based on gelatin was prepared through crosslinking copolymerization of poly (acrylic acid) and poly (itaconic acid). The copolymerization conditions including monomers, initiator, gelatin and crosslinker concentration, reaction temperature, and neutralization percent were systematically optimized to achieve a hydrogel with swelling capacity as high ...

Electrospun nanofibres are promising in biomedical applications to replicate features of the natural extracellular matrix (ECM). However, nearly all electrospun scaffolds are either non-degradable or degrade hydrolytically, whereas natural ECM degrades proteolytically, often through matrix metalloproteinases. Here we synthesize reactive macromers that contain protease-cleavable and fluorescent ...

Blend hydrogels composed of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCh) and poly (acrylonitrile) (PAN) were synthesized via crosslinking method. Several analyses were made to investigate both physical and thermal properties of CMCh/PAN hydrogels like; FTIR, scanning electron microscope, XRD and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). TGA results showed that CMCh/PAN hydrogels are thermally more stable than CMCh an...

Many different types of scaffold materials have been used for tissue engineering applications, and hydrogels form one group of materials that have been used in a wide variety of applications. Hydrogels are hydrophilic polymer networks and they represent an important class of biomaterials in biotechnology and medicine because many hydrogels exhibit excellent biocompatibility with minimal inflamm...

Biocompatible nanomaterials and hydrogels have become an important tool for improving cell-based therapies by promoting cell survival and protecting cell transplants from immune rejection. Although their potential benefit has been widely evaluated, at present it is not possible to determine, in vivo, if and how long cells remain viable following their administration without the use of a reporte...