Abstract
Present study refers to the synthesis of new advanced materials based on poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) with previously reported own advanced modified clays by edge covalent bonding. This will create the premises to obtain nanocomposite hydrogels with combined hydrophilic-hydrophobic behavior absolutely necessary for co-delivery of polar/nonpolar substances. For the synthesis, N,N’-methylenebisacrylamide was used as cross-linker and ammonium persulphate as initiator. As a consequence of the inclusion of clay into the polymer matrix and the intercalation of PMAA between the layers as well as the presence of hydrophobic interactions occurred between partners, the final hydrogel nanocomposites possessed greater swelling degrees, slower de-swelling process and enhanced mechanical properties depending on the clay type in comparison with pure hydrogel. In vitro MTS ([3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt]) colorimetric assay showed that direct exposure with PMMA-clay-based constructs did not affect cell viability and proliferation in time (24 and 48 h) on either normal or adenocarcinoma cell lines.
Highlights
Nanocomposite hydrogels were, are and will be promising materials with very high potential in a large variety of domains, especially in biomedicine [1,2,3]
The experiments derived from this study prove for the first time the capacity of hydrophobic modified commercial clay to slow down the release process of water from hydrogel network and the enhanced mechanical behavior of the final materials
The newly synthesized nanocomposite hydrogels could be recommended for situations where controlled release of the drug is required and hydrogel based material should reach to a specific target totally unaltered
Summary
Nanocomposite hydrogels were, are and will be promising materials with very high potential in a large variety of domains, especially in biomedicine [1,2,3]. Clay nanocomposites hydrogels were developed as a response of the increasing need for multifunctional materials with superior mechanical and biological properties compared with conventional hydrogels. Functionalized nanoclay can form physical, reversible and dense crosslinked structures which are effective on dissipating energy and stabilize the hydrogel network leading to enhanced mechanical strength hydrogels. These properties play a decisive role in targeted drug delivery in which hydrogel based material should reach to a specific place totally unaltered. Various nanocomposites based on different polymer/biopolymer matrices and clay have been studied such as: polyacrylamidechitosan-pristine montmorillonite, maltodextrin-co-dimethylacrylamide-vinyled montmorillonite, Poly(acrylamide)-Bentonite, clay/sodium polyacrylate hydrogels, high density polyethylene-modified sodium montmorillonite, montmorillonite-epoxi nanocomposites [14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23]
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