Swelling behavior and drug release of NIPAAm/PEGMEA copolymeric hydrogels with different crosslinkers

Poly(ethylene glycol) methylether acrylate (PEGMEA) and tetraethylene glycol diacrylate (TEGDA) were first synthesized. The thermosensitive hydrogels were then prepared from N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm), PEGMEA, and three crosslinkers with different structures such as N, N¢-methylene-bis-acrylamide (NMBA), TEGDA, and poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (EGDMA). The influence of polymerization factors such as the kind and amount of crosslinker and initial total monomer concentration on the swelling behavior, gel strength, effective crosslinking densities, and number-average molecular weight between crosslink points (Mc) for the present copolymeric hydrogels was investigated. The results indicate that the swelling ratios for the present copolymeric gels decrease with increase in temperature. In addition, the results also showed that the higher swelling ratios for the present gels prepared from TEGDA were obtained due to the larger space between the gel networks. The crosslinking density depends on the swelling ratio and the kind and extent of crosslinker. In addition, the drug release behavior for the present copolymeric gels was investigated.