Adsorption and controlled release of Chlortetracycline HCl by using multifunctional polymeric hydrogels

Adsorption and controlled release of Chlortetracycline HCl to and from multifunctional polymeric materials (HEMA/MAA) hydrogels were investigated. P(HEMA/MAA) hydrogels were synthesized by gamma radiation-induced copolymerization of 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) and methacrylic acid (MAA) in aqueous solution. The influence of copolymer composition and pH value of the surrounding medium on the type of water diffusion into the glassy polymer were discussed. Drug, Chlortetracycline HCl containing hydrogels, with different drug concentration to polymer ratios, was loaded by direct adsorption method. The influence of MAA content in the gel on the adsorption capacities of hydrogel was studied. Chlortetracycline HCl adsorption capacity of hydrogels was found to increase from 8 to 138 mg Chlortetracycline HCl per gram dry gel with increasing amount of MAA in the gel system and drug concentration. The effect of pH on the releasing behavior of Chlortetracycline HCl from gel matrix was investigated. In vitro drug release studies in different buffer solutions show that the basic parameters affecting the drug release behavior of hydrogel are the pH of the solution and MAA content of hydrogel.     

Synthesis and characterizations of various polyvinyl pyrrolidon/hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate nanocomposite hydrogels as drug delivery systems

Using polymer hydrogels and nanocomposites hydrogels still promising materials for many applications. Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) has been used with various polymers synthetic and natural for different applications. In this study PVP and hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate (HEMA) copolymer hydrogels were prepared by the aid of gamma radiation and the PVP/HEMA nanocomposite hydrogels were obtained by in situ adsorption and reduction method of iron salts and silver nitrates (AgNO₃) to form PVP/HEMA-Fe₃O₄ and PVP/HEMA-Ag nanocomposites. The prepared hydrogels and the formed nanoparticles were studied by various techniques; FTIR, TEM, SEM and also the gel content and swelling behavior were evaluated. The prepared hydrogels and nanocomposites hydrogels were examined as drug delivery systems for Ciprofloxacin HCl as model drug. The PVP/HEMA-Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite gave the suitable load and release behavior towards Ciprofloxacin HCl.     

Intelligent gel – surface properties and functions of gels –

The sliding friction of various kinds of hydrogels has been studied and it was found that the frictional behaviors of the hydrogels do not conform to Amonton's law F = μW, which well describes the friction of solids. The frictional force and its dependencies of on the load are quite different depending on the chemical structures of the gels, surface properties of the opposing substrates, and the measurement condition. The gel friction is explained in terms of interfacial interaction, either attractive or repulsive, between the polymer chain and the solid surface. According to this model, the frictional is ascribed to the viscous flow of solvent at the interface in the repulsive case. In the attractive case, the force to detach the adsorbing chain from the substrate appears as friction. Surface adhesion between glass particles and gels measured by AFM showed a good correlation with the friction, which support the repulsion‐adsorption model proposed by authors.     

耗散型石英晶体微天平在生物医用高分子材料中的应用

石英晶体微天平(QCM)是一种基于石英晶体压电效应的分析检测技术,可实时在线提供石英晶体表面吸附层质量、厚度、粘弹性等信息,由此获得表面分子相互作用关系。 耗散型石英晶体微天平(QCM-D)因其独特的对粘弹性的解析,使其在高分子材料中的应用迅速发展,尤其是生物医用高分子材料领域,已用来评价生物医用高分子材料的表界面相互作用,力学和生物相容性等。 本文简单介绍了耗散型石英晶体微天平的基本原理及理论模型,重点综述了近几年QCM-D在高分子链构象、蛋白质吸附、生物大分子相互作用、药物释放以及水凝胶中的应用,并且展望了QCM-D的未来发展趋势。     

烷氧磺酸盐功能化的聚乙撑二氧噻吩水凝胶

通过氧化偶联聚合方法成功地制备出一种基于烷氧磺酸盐功能化的聚乙撑二氧噻吩水凝胶, 揭示了零维单体胶束向二维纳米片层及三维水凝胶的转变过程, 发现通过改变反应温度或初始单体浓度, 可以诱导水凝胶网络结构单元的维度变化, 即由零维纳米粒子向二维纳米片层进行转化. 提出了一种导电高分子水凝胶的合成方法, 即采用一种氧化剂与一种多价金属盐的混合物作为引发剂, 其中前者用于诱导单体聚合, 后者则充当离子交联试剂, 并发现可以通过引入不同金属离子来改变凝胶的形貌. 此外, 导电高分子水凝胶具有良好的电化学电容, 并具有选择性吸附与可控脱附某些染料分子的特性.     

Metal adsorption of carboxymethyl cellulose/carboxymethyl chitosan blend hydrogels prepared by Gamma irradiation

Blend hydrogels based on the carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCts) were prepared by γ-irradiation of a high concentrated CMC/CMCts aqueous solution. Properties of the hydrogels, such as gel fraction, swelling ratio, gel strength, and metal adsorption for Pb and Au were investigated. The gel fraction increased with increasing dose, while the swelling ratio decreased with increasing it. The obtained blend hydrogels had high adsorption performance which was controlled by adjusting the composition of CMC/CMCts.     

亲水/疏水半互穿网络凝胶在直流电场作用下的响应

研究了一种亲水 疏水型半互穿网络水凝胶 (PAAc QPVPDgels)对直流电场的刺激应答 .该凝胶中的疏水型N 十二烷基聚 (4 乙烯吡啶 )溴化盐 (QPVPD)高分子链与亲水型聚丙烯酸水凝胶 (PAAc)网络通过物理缠绕复合 .由于疏水力和亲水力的共同作用 ,在接触电场下 ,该凝胶在阳极端发生消溶胀 ,疏水相互作用对消溶胀有一定的影响 ;在非接触电场下 ,该凝胶在弱碱性溶液中迅速向阴极方向弯曲 ,在弱酸性溶液中首先发生消溶胀 ,然后向阳极方向弯曲     

A molecular thermodynamic model for the swelling of thermo-sensitive hydrogels

A new molecular thermodynamic model for describing the swelling behavior of thermo-sensitive hydrogels was developed. The model consists of two terms. One is the contribution of the mixing of hydrogel network and water, which is dependent on the local polymer concentration and the interaction between polymer segment and solvent. A closed packed lattice model for polymer solution developed by Yang et al. was adopted for this term. The other is the elastic contribution derived from the network elasticity, which is dependent on the cross-linking degree of gel network. The elastic Gibbs energy model based on the Gaussian chain model developed by Flory was adopted. The model equation has two parameters. One is an energy parameter ? reflecting the interaction between water and gel network, the other is a size parameter V^* that represents the cross-linking degree of the hydrogel. When the energy parameter ? is expressed as a quadratic of inverse temperature, this model can describe the swelling equilibrium behavior of neutral thermo-sensitive hydrogels quite well. The influences of model parameters were discussed in details. The experimental swelling curves of two kinds of polyacrylamide-based gels were correlated and good agreement was obtained.     

Cationic dye adsorption by poly(N-isopropylacrylamide/maleic acid) copolymeric hydrogels prepared by gamma rays

N-isopropylacrylamide/maleic acid hydrogels containing different quantities of maleic acid have been synthesized with γ-radiation. The hydrogels were used in experiments on swelling, diffusion and adsorption of a cationic dye methylene blue. The diffusion of MB into the hydrogels was found to be the non-Fickian type. The factors influencing adsorption capacity of the hydrogel such as gel composition, and irradiation dose were systematically investigated. The equilibrium data for dye adsorption was better described by the Freundlich isotherm than Langmuir isotherm model. The kinetic studies showed that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model fits better than the data obtained from pseudo-first-order model.     

New antifouling silica hydrogel

In this work, a new antifouling silica hydrogel was developed for potential biomedical applications. A zwitterionic polymer, poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (pCBMA), was produced via atom-transfer radical polymerization and was appended to the hydrogel network in a two-step acid-base-catalyzed sol-gel process. The pCBMA silica aerogels were obtained by drying the hydrogels under supercritical conditions using CO(2). To understand the effect of pCBMA on the gel structure, pCBMA silica aerogels with different pCBMA contents were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and the surface area from Brauner-Emmet-Teller (BET) measurements. The antifouling property of pCBMA silica hydrogel to resist protein (fibrinogen) adsorption was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). SEM images revealed that the particle size and porosity of the silica network decreased at low pCBMA content and increased at above 33 wt % of the polymer. The presence of pCBMA increased the surface area of the material by 91% at a polymer content of 25 wt %. NMR results confirmed that pCBMA was incorporated completely into the silica structure at a polymer content below 20 wt %. A protein adsorption test revealed a reduction in fibrinogen adsorption by 83% at 25 wt % pCBMA content in the hydrogel compared to the fibrinogen adsorption in the unmodified silica hydrogel.     

丙烯酸基水凝胶处理重金属废水的研究进展

重金属废水因其对环境污染严重、危害人类健康而越来越引起人们的重视。丙烯酸基高分子水凝胶由于含有多种功能基团和大量的活性吸附位点,在重金属吸附方面发挥了重要作用。本文主要综述了丙烯酸基高分子水凝胶在重金属废水处理方面的研究进展,总结和归纳了聚丙烯酸基高分子水凝胶的制备方法和分类等,分析了聚丙烯酸基高分子水凝胶作为吸附剂在重金属废水处理方面存在的问题,并对其后续应用和研究进行了展望。     

Hydrogels of poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) and hydroxyethyl methacrylate—glycerol monomethacry-late copolymers

Hydrophilic three-dimensional polymer networks (hydrogels) were prepared from hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and the copolymer HEMA and glycerol monomethacrylate (GMMA). The equilibrium water content of the hydrogels in water was investigated as a function of the initial dilution of the polymerization mixture, the type of solvent, and the hydrophilicity of the polymer. The initial dilution was found to have a decisive effect on the swelling or deswelling of hydrogels after the completion of the gel formation. With relatively less hydrophilic hydrogels, there is a critical initial dilution to produce the gel which does not swell or deswell in water after the gel formation. This “isovolumic” initial dilution shifts toward a higher dilution as the hydrophilicity of the hydrogels increases; however, when hydrophilicity of the polymer rises above a certain point, gels always swell in water. Permeability of oxygen through hydrogels was also studied.     

Structure and thermodynamics of protein-polymer solutions: effects of spatially distributed hydrophobic surface residues

Protein-polymer association in solution driven by a short-range attraction has been investigated using a simple coarse-grain model solved by Monte Carlo simulations. The effect of the spatial distribution of the hydrophobic surface residues of the protein on the adsorption of weakly hydrophobic polymers at variable polymer concentration, polymer length, and polymer stiffness has been considered. Structural data on the adsorbed polymer layer and thermodynamic properties, such as the free energy, energy, and entropy, related to the protein-polymer interaction were calculated. It was found that a more heterogeneous distribution of the surface residues promotes adsorption and that this also applies for different polymer concentrations, polymer chain lengths, and polymer flexibilities. Furthermore, the polymer adsorption onto proteins with more homogeneous surface distributions displayed larger sensitivity to polymer properties such as chain length and flexibility. Finally, a simple relation between the adsorption probability and the change in the free energy was found and rationalized by a simple two-state adsorption model.     

Rational Design of Heat‐Set and Specific‐Ion‐Responsive Supramolecular Hydrogels Based on the Hofmeister Effect

Smart supramolecular hydrogels have been prepared from a bolaamphiphilic L ‐valine derivative in aqueous solutions of different salts. The hydrogels respond selectively to different ions and are either reinforced or weakened. In one case, in contrast to conventional systems, the hydrogels are formed upon heating of the system. The use of the hydrogels in the controlled release of an entrapped dye is described as a proof of the potential applications of these systems. The responsive hydrogels were rationally designed by taking into account the noticeable effect of different ions from the Hofmeister series in the solubility of the hydrogelator, which was assessed by using NMR experiments. On the one hand, kosmotropic anions such as sulfate produce a remarkable solubility decrease in the gelator, which is associated with gel reinforcement, as measured by rheological experiments. On the other hand, chaotropic species such as perchlorate weaken the gel. A dramatic effect was observed in the presence of guanidinium chloride, which boosted the solubility of the gelator, in accordance with its chaotropic behaviour reported in protein science. In this case, a direct interaction of the guanidinium species with the carbonyl groups of the hydrogelator is detected by ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The weakening of this interaction upon a temperature increase allows for the preparation of heat‐set hydrogelating systems.     

SURFACE DYNAMIC FRICTION OF POLYMER GELS

The sliding friction of various kinds of hydrogels has been studied and it was found that the frictional behaviors ofthe hydrogels do not conform to Amonton's law F=μW which well describes the friction of solids. The frictional force andits dependence on the load are quite different depending on the chemical structures of the gels, surface properties of theopposing substrates, and the measurement condition. The gel friction is explained in terms of interracial interaction, eitherattractive or repulsive, between the polymer chain and the solid surface. According to this model, the friction is ascribed tothe viscous flow of solvent at the interface in the repulsive case. In the attractive case, the force to detach the adsorbing chainfrom the substrate appears as friction. The surface adhesion between glass particles and gels measured by AFM showed agood correlation with the friction, which supported the repulsion-adsorption model proposed by the authors.     

The effect of external stimuli on the Bovine Serum Albumin adsorption capacity of poly(acrylamide/maleic acid) hydrogels prepared by gamma rays

The effects of external stimuli such as pH of the buffer solution, ionic strength, temperature and the amount of poly-electrolyte monomer in the hydrogel system on the Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) adsorption capacity of poly(acrylamide/maleic acid) [P(AAm/MA)] hydrogels were investigated. Poly-electrolyte P(AAm/MA) hydrogels with varying compositions were prepared by irradiating acrylamide/maleic acid/water mixtures with γ rays at ambient temperature. Langmuir type adsorption isotherms were observed for all prepared hydrogels. Increase of ionic strength of the buffer solution from 0.01 to 0.1 mol dm⁻³ decreased the adsorption capacity of hydrogels and zero adsorption was observed in the presence of 0.1 mol dm⁻³ Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ ion in the adsorption medium. The adsorption capacity of hydrogels was found to increase from 0 to 120 mg BSA/g dry gel, by changing external stimuli and hydrogel composition.     

复合分子印迹聚合物体系选择性富集蛋白质样品中的溶菌酶

考察了功能单体与模板蛋白的反应摩尔比、溶液pH值及离子强度对功能单体与模板蛋白之间相互作用的影响, 得出制备分子印迹聚合物的最佳条件. 在最佳条件下, 以溶菌酶(Lyz)为模板分子, 丙烯酰胺(AA)和N,N’-亚甲基双丙烯酰胺(BisAA)为聚合基质, 二氧化硅为固体制孔剂, 制备了复合分子印迹聚丙烯酰胺凝胶, 并用平衡吸附实验研究了其吸附性能和识别选择性. 研究结果表明, 该聚合物对模板蛋白有较高的亲和性、选择性和吸附容量,可以从蛋白质混合溶液中分离富集模板分子.     

Intelligent,Biodegradable, and Self‐Healing Hydrogels Utilizing DNA Quadruplexes

A new class of hydrogels utilizing DNA (DNA quadruplex gel) has been constructed by directly and symmetrically coupling deoxynucleotide phosphoramidite monomers to the ends of polyethylene glycols (PEGs) in liquid phase, and using the resulting DNA‐PEG‐DNA triblock copolymers as macromonomers. Elongation of merely four deoxyguanosine residues on PEG, which produces typically ≈10 grams of desired DNA‐PEG conjugates in one synthesis, resulted in intelligent and biodegradable hydrogels utilizing DNA quadruplex formation, which are responsive to various input signals such as Na⁺, K⁺, and complementary DNA strand. Gelation of DNA quadruplex gels takes place within a few seconds upon the addition of a trigger, enabling free formation just like Ca⁺‐alginate hydrogels or possible application as an injectable polymer (IP) gel. The obtained hydrogels show good thermal stability and rheological properties, and even display self‐healing ability.     

Urea derivatives as low-molecular-weight gelators

This paper reports an overview of low-molecular-weight gelators (LMWGs) that have a ureide moiety as a hydrogen-bonding site. Various mono-, bis-, tris-, and tetrakis-urea compounds can form supramolecular gels with organic solvents. The author developed a C ₃-symmetrical tris-urea molecule that can form a ubiquitous framework of LMWGs. The supramolecular organogel of the tris-urea molecule exhibited a chemical-stimuli-responsive reversible gel–sol phase transition. Supramolecular hydrogels are constructed from self-assemblies of amphiphilic urea derivatives. Sugar-connected amphiphilic tris-urea was found to form a gel with water, and the hydrogels showed chemical-stimuli-responsive gel–sol phase transitions. The potential of supramolecular hydrogels as matrices of electrophoresis has been demonstrated through the supramolecular gel electrophoresis (SUGE) of protein samples using our developed amphiphilic tris-urea LMWG.     

How protonation modulates the interaction between proteins and pH-responsive hydrogel films

Hydrogels of pH-responsive polymers are promising candidates for the design of functional biomaterials. In this context, understanding the complexity of the interaction between these materials and proteins is essential. A recently developed molecular-level equilibrium theory for protein adsorption on hydrogels of cross-linked polyacid chains allows for modeling size, shape, charge distribution, protonation state and conformational degrees of freedom of all chemical species in the system; proteins are described using a coarse-grained model of their crystallographic structure. This review summarizes our recent studies, which have focused on understanding how the interaction between proteins and pH-responsive hydrogel films depends on the pH and salt concentration, both in single protein solutions and mixtures. In particular, we discuss the key role that protonation plays in mediating the polymer-protein electrostatic attractions that drive adsorption. Deprotonation of the polyacid network modifies the nano-environment inside the hydrogel; the local pH drops inside the film. In single protein solutions, protonation of amino acid residues in this lower-pH environment favors adsorption to the hydrogel. Upon adsorption, the net charge of the protein can be several units more positive than in the solution. The various amino acids protonate differently, in a non-trivial way, which gives flexibility to the protein to enhance its positive charge and favor adsorption under a wide range of conditions. In binary and ternary protein solutions, amino acid protonation is the decisive factor for selective adsorption under certain conditions. We show that the polymer network composition and the solution pH can be used to separate and localize proteins within nanometer-sized regions.