Swelling and diffusion characteristics of modified poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogels

Thermo-responsive hydrogels are capable of swelling changes to external temperature. A series of modified poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA) hydrogels was synthesized by free radical polymerization in aqueous solution. Acrylamide (AAm) was used to increase the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), while sodium alginate (SA) was used to improve the swelling performance of the hydrogels. Experiments show that 5.5% mass ratio of AAm increased the LCST by about 9 °C above that of conventional PNIPA. Also, SA significantly improved the equilibrium swelling ratio associate with temperature change. Trypan blue diffusion revealed significant differences in the fluid release obtained from hydrogels with modified LCST and swelling properties. The implications of the modified fluid release and swelling characteristics are also discussed for the device design of thermo-sensitive hydrogels for localized drug delivery.