Synthesis and Analysis of Electrically Sensitive Hydrogels for Advanced Drug Delivery Systems

Electrically sensitive polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels loaded with methotrexate (MTX) were prepared via a solution casting process, and characterized by attenuated total reflectance (ATR) spectrometry. In order to determine if the hydrogels were electro-sensitive or not, bending tests were conducted on the sulfoacetic acid modified hydrogels. It was observed that the prepared samples into strip forms started bending towards the cathode, and this bending was reversible when the polarity of the applied voltage was changed. The drug release study was performed on the MTX-loaded hydrogel strips placed in a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution under three different voltages (e.g., 0V, 5V, 10V, and 20V). Subsequently, the solutions were collected every five minutes in order to determine the drug release behaviors of the hydrogels using an ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer. The test results showed that sulfoacetic acid (SA)-modified PVA hydrogels possess electrical sensitive behavior and kept their electric sensitivity for a long period of time. Also, the results confirmed that the control drug release could be achieved under different electrical voltages.