Development of carboxymethyl cellulose acrylate for various biomedical applications.

The purpose of this work is to prepare a pH-sensitive hydrogel membrane of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose acrylate for drug delivery and other biomedical applications. The hydrogel was made by esterification of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (SCMC) and acryloyl chloride (ACl). The esterified product was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and XRD. Swelling, hemocompatibility, water vapor transmission rate, contact angle and diffusional studies were also done. Biocompatibility of the membrane was established by quantification of cell growth of L929 cells and mice splenocytes. The FTIR spectrum of the hydrogel suggested the formation of ester bonds between the hydroxyl groups of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and the carbonyl group of acryloyl chloride. Water vapor transmission rate, hemocompatibility, contact angle and swelling studies indicated that the hydrogel can be tried as a wound dressing material. The hydrogel showed pH-dependent swelling behavior arising from the acidic pendant group in the polymer network. The permeability of the hydrogel membrane produced, as shown by salicylic acid diffusion, increased in response to an increase in pH of the external medium. The hydrogel membrane was permeable to salicylic acid at pH 7.2 but not at pH 2.0 (0.01N HCl). The effect of changes of pH on the hydrogel's permeability was found to be reversible. The hydrogel membrane was found to be compatible with the L929 mice fibroblast cell line and mice splenocytes. The esterified product of SCMC and ACl swells on increase of pH indicating its possible use in a pH-sensitive drug delivery system and as a wound dressing material.