Novel fast thermal-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogels with functional cyclodextrin interpenetrating polymer networks for controlled drug release

Thermal-responsive hydrogels poly[(N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-(aminoethyl methacrylate β-cyclodextrin)] (PNiCD) were synthesized, and the morphology, thermal behavior and swelling/deswelling kinetic of the PNiCD hydrogels were studied. The results indicate that PNiCD hydrogels not only had considerable swelling ratios and rapid swelling/deswelling kinetics, but also behaved with fast thermal response sensitivities. In addition, by adjusting the weight ratio of GCD/NIPAAm ratio PNiCD hydrogels with different macroporous and thermal-responsive performances can be prepared for potential application in the biological medicine field. Levofloxacin lactate (LL) and rhodamine B (Rh) were elected as model drugs to explore controlled drug release for PNiCD hydrogels. The results showed that about 30 % of the LL and Rh were released within the first 30 min, and 80 % drugs were released at around 300 min, and this release process was faster than that of PNIPAAm hydrogel. The fast release performance indicated that these new CD modified PNIPAAm-based PNiCD hydrogels are promising for use in rapid drug delivery in the biological medicine field.