A Study of Novel Degradable Imprinted Networks

In recent years, there has been increased study of molecular imprinting within hydrogels, a technique which creates macromolecular memory for template molecules in polymer networks. In this work, imprinting phenomena is studied within a degradable network structure. Significant application potential exists in medicine and includes controlled drug-releasing scaffolds, matrices, and films. The degradable, imprinted hydrogels created in this study are composed of the macromer, poly(lactide-ethylene oxide-fumarate) (PLEOF), along with the template molecule, diclofenac sodium (DS), and the monomers 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), diethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DEAEM), and polyethylene glycol 200 dimethacrylate (PEG200DMA). The quality of the memory (i.e., template loading, affinity, and release) will be discussed in relation to the controlled degradation of the networks.