Hydrogels, Solvogels or Amphigels? PNIPAM in nonaqueous solvents

VICTORIA MARTINEZ; MARIA MOLINA; CESAR BARBERO

Simposio; XVI Simposio Latinoamericano de polímeros; 2018

The hydrophilic nature of hydrogel networks is very attractive since allows gel swelling in water. However it is a disadvantage towards loading hydrophobic drugs which are insoluble in water. In this work we studied the swelling of poly(N-isopropyacrylamide) (PNIPAM) gels in nonaqueous solvents, both pure and as binary and ternary solutions. The property is used to load substances (dyes, drugs, polymers), which are insoluble or slightly soluble in water, into the gel. The nonaqueous solvent can be removed by evaporation and the gel swelled in water, exposing the insoluble substance to aqueous media.