Synthesis of a New Drug Delivery System Based on Alginate via Graft Copolymerization
Department of Chemistry, Science Faculty, Islamic Azad University, Khorramabad Branch, Khorramabad, Iran
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The present work focused on the design of drug delivery system (DDS) based on a pH-sensitive hydrogel. The hydrogels were prepared via graft copolymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) monomer was directly grafted onto alginate using ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as a crosslinking agent under an inert atmosphere. Porous structure of hydrogel was essential in this system to yield a large surface area so that Metronidazole release could be facilitated. Due to the reversible swelling behavior of the hydrogels, the synthesized networks can sense the environmental pH change and achieve an oscillatory release pattern. The concentration of released Metronidazole loaded was monitored at 278 nm on the UV spectrophotometer.
KEYWORDS:Alginate; Hydrogel; Metronidazole; Releasing drug
