(171a) Drug Loading Into and Drug Release From pH- and Temperature-Responsive Cylindrical Hydrogels
AIChE Annual Meeting
2011
2011 Annual Meeting
Materials Engineering and Sciences Division
Modeling and Simulation of Polymers II
Monday, October 17, 2011 - 3:15pm to 3:40pm
Hydrogels that undergo deformation upon appropriate changes in pH or temperature have considerable promise as drug delivery vehicles. Drug uptake in swelling and non-swelling cylindrical hydrogels and drug release from these into a target fluid are investigated here. A mathematical model for hydrogel-solution composite, a composite of a distributed parameter system (cylindrical hydrogel) and a lumped parameter system (surrounding solution), is developed. The polymer network displacement in a swelling/deswelling hydrogel is described by a stress diffusion coupling model. The analytical solution for network displacement is used to predict solvent intake by swelling hydrogels, solvent efflux from deswelling hydrogels, and changes in pressure, porosity and effective drug diffusivity. These in turn influence drug uptake during and after hydrogel swelling and drug release from hydrogel during and after deswelling. Numerical results illustrate benefits of hydrogel swelling for drug loading and merits of different modes of drug release. Drug uptake and drug release by temperature-responsive hydrogels are compared to those by hydrogels not subject to deformation.