Synthesis and characterizations of poly hydroxybenzyl methacrylate-co-acrylamide based hydrogel as drug delivery system

The aromatic/hydrophilic monomer, hydroxybenzyl methacrylate (HBM), was synthesized by reaction of 4-hydroxy benzyl alcohol with acrylic acid and then copolymerized with acrylamide (AAM) in various proportions. Potassium persulfate (PPS) was used as the initiator. The copolymer (3HBM/1AAM), selected based on the swelling results in water, was crosslinked using different concentrations of ethylene glycol dimethyl acrylate (EGDMA). The chemical structure of the monomer and copolymers was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and proton magnetic resonance (1H-NMR). The effect of the crosslinker concentration on the swelling, mechanical and thermal properties of the copolymers was investigated. The equilibrium water content (EWC) increased with the increase in the amount of crosslinker. The mechanical and thermal properties were also improved. The ability of the obtained copolymers to incorporate and release the drug (ciprofloxacin) was investigated based on swelling in the drug solution. A higher proportion of HBM in the copolymer resulted in a higher efficiency of the copolymer as a drug carrier.