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Novel nanocomposite supramolecular hydrogels: synthesis, characterization and potential biomedical application

Supramolecular hydrogels are emerging as versatile soft materials with many potential applications arising from their structure and ability to self-assemble along with their stimuliresponsive. Some of these applications include sensors, actuators and various biomedical applications. However, since supramolecular hydrogels are dynamic materials, their mechanical stability can be low which can in turn affect their practical use. It was recently reported that addition of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) could enhance the properties of supramolecular hydrogels. Here, we present the synthesis and characterization of new nanocomposite hydrogels system, consisting of low molecular weight gelators (LMWG) based on 11-amino-N-(pyridin-4-ylmethyl) undecanamide with incorporated amino-acids and PVA. In order to determine the effects of the addition of PVA to hydrogels, the addition of PVA in the range of 1 – 5% wt in the hydrogel was studied. This was done in order to attain more stable hydrogels for biomedical applications. The self-assembly of nanocomposite hydrogels was characterized by FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy, morphology of the gel network was determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The release of doxorubicin (DOX) from composite of 1a and PVA was analyzed by UV/Vis spectroscopy and kinetic measurements. From the results it is possible to conclude that addition of PVA to hydrogels enhanced the thermal stability and it has also influenced the morphology of the gel network system. Preliminary measurements of the release kinetics of DOX suggest that the release is possible to control by the addition of PVA in a hydrogel network system. Somewhat faster DOX release was achieved from cross-linked PVA hydrogels.

supramolecular hydrogels ; drug delivery ; poly(vinyl alcohol)

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