Multifunctional, Biocompatible, Non-peptidic Hydrogels: from Water Purification to Drug Delivery

A novel series of low molecular weight non-peptidic, biocompatible super-hydrogelators with both water purification and drug delivery properties have been developed. Linking the bis aromatic urea groups responsible for gelation together to form bi- and tri-armed gelators, affords good control over gelation and water purification properties. The use of the gels as effective drug scavengers and delivery systems has been dem-onstrated with dye substrates, via pH inversion, as monitored by UV-vis spectroscopy. Finally, the systems' abilities as both drug scavenging and delivery systems have been demonstrated with the clinically-approved drugs chlorpromazine and doxorubicin, respectively.