ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIVE HYDROGELS: A NOVEL APPROACH IN DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM
Abstract
Hydrogels are three dimensional crosslinked hydrophilic polymeric networks which has the capability to imbibe water or biological fluids. Environmentally responsive hydrogels have the ability to respond to change in their external environment. They can exhibit dramatic changes in their swelling behaviour, network structure, permeability and mechanical strength in response to change in pH or ionic strength of the surrounding fluid or temperature. Other hydrogels have the ability to respond to applied electric or magnetic field or to change in concentration of glucose. Environmental responsive hydrogels for drug delivery application also requires biocompatibility. The chemical structure of the polymer may also affect the swelling ratio of hydrogels. Hydrogels containing hydrophilic groups swell to a higher degree compared to those containing hydrophobic groups. Swelling of environmentally responsive hydrogels can be affected by changes in the temperature of the swelling media, ionic strength and pH
Downloads
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).