THERMOREVERSIBLE HYDROGELS - IV - EFFECT OF SOME FACTORS ON THE SWELLING BEHAVIOR OF N-TETRAHYDROFURFURYLACRYLAMIDE

A thermoreversible hydrogel, poly(N-tetrahydrofurfurylacrylamide) [pol y-(NTHFAAm) gel], was prepared from N-tetrahydrofurfurylacrylamide, wh ich was synthesized from N-tetrahydrofurfurylamine and acryloyl chlori de (through acylation), with N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide, a crosslinke r, in various aqueous solutions. The influences of temperature, gel th ickness, and polymerization media on the swelling behaviors in water w ere investigated. The effect of the gel thickness on the swelling rati o for NTHFAAm gel indicated that the equilibrium swelling time and dif fusion coefficient for the thinner gel were faster than those for the thicker gels. The effects of different polymerization media on the gel swelling ratio showed that the larger the solvent molecular size and the poorer the miscibility of the monomer and solvent, the higher the swelling ratio and diffusion coefficient. The drug release profiles in the various gels were also investigated. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.