Polyol induced interpenetrating networks: chitosan-methylmethacrylate based biocompatible and pH responsive hydrogels for drug delivery system.

Biodegradable and biocompatible hydrogels are a fairly imperative class of biomaterials, which find applications for drug delivery. The blending of natural biopolymers and synthetic polymers has introduced exceptional characteristics in hydrogels for diverse biomedical applications. Here, we report a novel class of pH responsive, hydrophobically modified chitosan based hydrogels using methylmethacrylate (MMA) and sustainable polyol. The polyol derivatized hydrogels were characterized using FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The biodegradability studies were carried out in soil and water. The in vitro equilibrium swelling behavior in different buffer solutions of pH values (4 and 7.3), including some physiological solutions were also evaluated. The potential of these hydrogels in drug delivery was demonstrated by preliminary biocompatibility assessment in different human sera for 24 hours. No significant changes in the values of various components present in sera before and after test procedures were found.