Radiation crosslinking polymerization of poly (vinyl alcohol) and poly (ethylene glycol) with controlled drug release

The aim of this work was to develop novel polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) blends hydrogels via solution casting technique followed gamma-irradiation technique to crosslink and form a hydrogel material that contains a certain amount of water when the solution polymer was exposed to radiation at a small dose rate at ambient temperature. The formation of the PVE: PEG crosslinked structure was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) measurement. The degree of swelling increased with increases in PVA content in the PVA-PEG mixed gel. The drug released from the gel material was examined using drug model sodium sulfate. The drug release behavior from the hydrogel networks was influence by the PVA-PEG ratio in the hydrogel preparation. The released amount was influenced dramatically by the ratio of PVA in the initial feed. The kinetic of the drug released from the hydrogels in general was a non-Fickian diffusion type (anomalous) mechanisms, whereas the process is moderately affected by the viscoelastic relaxation of the chains through water penetration. The thermal stability behavior of the hydrogel was demonstrated by thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), the tensile strength and compressive strength were found to be increased with increasing PEG content under induced gamma-radiation. Furthermore, biodegradability of the PVA: PEG polymer blends were estimated in phosphate buffer solutions (PBS) under different pH values and enzymatic solution at pH 7.4 through weight loss monitoring. The results indicated that the biodegradation was increased as a function of PEG content decreased. The gamma ray crosslinking of the PVA: PEG blend hydrogel can be a good candidate for applications in a drug career.