Bioerodible hydrogels based on 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate: Synthesis and characterization

Abstract

Biocompatible polymers with specific shape and tailored hydrogel properties were obtained by polymerization of mixtures of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) with 1-8 wt % ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) or tetra(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (TEGDA) as crosslinking agents, by using a redox initiator. Introduction of charged positive and negative groups was easily achieved by direct polymerization of appropriate monomer mixtures and by chemical transformation of preformed hydrogels. Investigation of the swelling behavior of the prepared hydrogels evidenced an appreciable dependence on both solvent type and polymer chemical structure. Additionally, the solvation process resulted in being controlled by solvent diffusion, according to a Fickian II mechanism. The presence of several types of water with different melting behavior was observed in fully swollen hydrogels.

Cationic hydrogels for toxic arsenate removal from aqueous environment

“…Due to their ability to change shape and volume in response to external stimuli, hydrogels have been studied extensively for a variety of applications ranging from biology to environment (Rosiak and Yoshii, 1999;Chiellini et al, 2002;Zhang and Peppas, 2000). Hydrogels offer several advantages over conventional methods.…”

Synthesis, Thermal Behavior, and Aggregation in Aqueous Solution of Poly(methyl Methacrylate)-B-Poly(2-Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate)

“…Recently, poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA)) has attracted great interest because this polymer exhibits excellent biocompatibility 13 and good blood compatibility 14 . PHEMA is a commercially available polymer and find a number of interesting applications, such as hydrogels 15,16 , soft contact lenses applications 17 , tissue engineering 18 . These features have prompted much interest on block copolymers containing PHEMA [19][20][21] .…”

Bioerodible Polymeric Nanoparticles for Targeted Delivery of Proteic Drugs

“…9 10 These receptors can recognize the galactose units on the oligosaccharide chains of glycoproteins or on chemically galactosylated drug carriers. 11 In the framework of a long-standing activity in the development of biocompatible polymers for biomedical and tissue engineering applications, [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] in a previous paper 18 we reported the formulations of nanoparticles loaded with -interferon ( -IFN), a proteic drug widely used in the treatment of hepatitis C. These carriers were prepared in order to achieve targeted and controlled delivery of -IFN to hepatocytes, the liver parenchymal cells that are affected by hepatitis C viral infection. To the best of our knowledge, no previous report on the targeted delivery of drugs to liver hepatocytes by biodegradable nanoparticles is present in the literature.…”