Preparation and characterization of cellulose nanocrystals reinforced poly (Vinyl alcohol) based hydrogels for drug delivery system

Abstract

Structural property of most hydrogels is soft, resulting in low mechanical performance that limits their usage in the biomedical applications. For overcoming the drawback, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were adopted in this study. Effects of CNCs on characteristics and drug delivery performance of poly (vinyl alcohol) based hydrogels were explored. FT-IR results showed that the fabricated hydrogels had semi-IPN (semi-interpenetrating polymer network) by formation of acetal and aldehyde bridge. Water absorption and swelling ratio decreased with increasing CNCs content, and the hydrogels with CNCs showed better viscoelastic performance than the without CNCs. Also, CNCs mostly improved the ability of the hydrogel to absorb the drug and the sustainability of the drug release. These results demonstrated that incorporating CNCs into the hydrogel systems can be a good alternative to improve drug delivery performance and mechanical property of the hydrogels.