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Linear and crosslinked polymers for applications in molecular delivery and separation
Abstract
Polymeric drug delivery has received tremendous attention in recent years. Polymeric drug delivery vehicles can be designed to deliver therapeutic agents either in a well-controlled manner or in response to a trigger. Drug delivery aims to ensure that the therapeutic agent reaches its target in the required quantity with minimal side effect. In this thesis, crosslinked polymers have been used to achieve controlled drug release. We have synthesized polymeric hydrogels from amino acid-derived monomers. Due to the hydrophilic nature of hydrogels, it is difficult to efficiently load hydrophobic drugs and hydrophilic drugs generally show a burst release. Various approaches have been developed in this work to tune and modulate the swelling, loading and release properties of hydrogels. The use of hydrogels as molecular separation systems to isolate, purify and concentrate compounds has been a well-known technique. However, the existing procedures mostly separate molecules by size exclusion and generally suffer selectivity with small molecules. We attempt to improve separation of molecules based on their charges. Nanogels have become very versatile vehicles for drug delivery. They are nanometer sized particles and can be administered parenterally to overcome the problems associated with the administration of drugs via the oral route i.e. degradation by digestive enzymes and first pass effect. Nanogel analogs of the hydrogels have been synthesized and evaluated for drug delivery.
Subject Area
Chemistry|Polymer chemistry|Pharmacy sciences
Recommended Citation
Lartey, Michael, "Linear and crosslinked polymers for applications in molecular delivery and separation" (2012). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI3518253.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI3518253