Application of biodegradable superabsorbent hydrogel composite based on Gum ghatti-co-poly(acrylic acid-aniline) for controlled drug delivery

In this work, biodegradable hydrogel composite gum ghatti-co-poly(acrylic acid-aniline) (Gg-co-poly(AA-ANI) was prepared through graft copolymerization of ANI onto Gg-co-poly(AA) chains, in the presence of N,N'-methylene-bis-acrylamide (MBA) and ammonium persulphate (APS) as a crosslinker-initiator system in an aqueous solution. The matrix Gg-co-poly(AA) was synthesized by polymerizing AA onto Gg backbone using MBA and APS as a crosslinker-initiator system. The characterization of the crosslinked hydrogels has been carried out by Time of flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis. These spectroscopic studies confirmed the successful graft polymerization. The biodegradation of the crosslinked hydrogels was analysed using the composting soil method for two months. The initial and final weight of the crosslinked hydrogels were compared as well as the percentage degradation was calculated. The capability of the synthesized hydrogels to be employed as a colon-specific drug delivery vehicle was executed at various pH media using amoxicillin trihydrate as a model drug. The crosslinked hydrogel with the maximum percentage swelling was observed to show best drug absorption. Preliminary kinetic studied were conducted to get an estimated view of the release mechanism.