• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.455-460
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• 2012

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel has been studied as an important drug delivery system due to its volume transition or temperature-responsive swelling properties, whose phase separation temperature is similar to the body temperature. However, because of hydrophilic PNIPAM, hydrophobic drugs are difficult to be uniformly loaded in the networks. Antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid (LA) can be prepared as a polymer(polylipoic acid, PLA) by ring opening polymerization, which is hardly developed as a material due to its low molecular weight and easy depolymerization. To overcome this limitation, a hydrophobic active ingredient, LA was reacted with NIPAM into stable hydrogels. Simple thermal radical reaction successfully resulted in a hydrogel (PNIPAM/PLA), which was confirmed by DSC, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. The PNIPAM/PLA showed temperature-responsive properties, and their volume swelling decreased with an increase in lipoic acid content. These hydrogels can carry hydrophobic drugs with PNIPAM and the hydrogels could be useful as final drug delivery systems having lipoic acid as an antioxidant.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.182-189
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• 2012

In this study, poloxamer hydrogels were prepared by electron beam irradiation and evaluated for potential application as a buccal mucoadhesive drug delivery system. Poloxamer, one of typical thermoresponsive polymers, was modified to have vinyl end groups for crosslinking reaction, and its hydrogels were fabricated by irradiation crosslinking reaction. Carbopol as a mucoadhesive polymeric additive was introduced to improve the mucoadhesive property of the hydrogels and its effect on the mucoadhesion and drug release properties was investigated. The results showed that the end group modification of poloxamer and the addition of carbopol improved mucoadhesive force and mechanical properties and led to a sustained drug release behavior.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.462-469
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• 2013

Catechin (CTEC) is well-known as a very powerful antioxidant, containing the effects of anti-inflammation and skin wound healing. In this study, CTEC/${\beta}$-cyclodextrin (${\beta}$-CD) nanoparticles were incorporated into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/pectin (PT) hydrogel. The composite was designed for the induction of re-epithelializaton in skin wound. CTEC/${\beta}$-CD nanoparticles were prepared by a molecular complex method. The size of the CTEC nanoparticles formed in the hydrogel was in the range of $250{\pm}17.5$ nm. The incorporation efficiency of CTEC in the nanoparticles was 74%. The cumulative amounts of CTEC released from the hydrogel containing CTEC nanoparticles in the buffers of pH7.4 and 5.5 were $86.51{\pm}3.14%$ and $35.95{\pm}2.14%$ of total CTEC loaded in the hydrogel within 72 h, respectively. Also, in the wound healing test, the CTEC nanoparticles-loaded PVA/PT hydrogel showed faster healing of the wound made in rat dorsum than the CTEC gel.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.717-721
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• 2013

Biomaterials like silk fibroin (SF) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) have received increasing attention in biomedical applications because of their attractive properties such as hydrophobicity and biocompatibility. In this study, efficient systems consisting of interpenetrating SF/PVA hydrogels were prepared as potential candidate for wound dressing applications. A simple approach consisting of sonication and a freezing-thawing technique was adopted to fabricate the hydrogels. Different blend ratios consisting of SF (100, 75, 50, 25 and 0%) with respect to the weight of PVA were prepared. The produced hydrogels were characterized for physico-chemical investigations using various states of techniques like; FE-SEM, TGA, FTIR and tensile strength. The addition of PVA to SF was proved to be beneficial in terms of reducing the pore size and swelling ratio of hydrogels. The mechanical property of SF had been increased by addition of PVA. These results show that SF/PVA hydrogels may serve as potential candidates for wound dressing application.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.139-144
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• 2022

This study reports a microfluidic approach to produce monodisperse hydrogel microparticles in a simple and highly efficient manner. Specifically, we produce double emulsion drops with a thin oil shell surrounding an aqueous prepolymer solution, which is solidified via UV-induced free radical polymerization. When they are dispersed in an aqueous solution, the oil shell is dewetted due to the absence of surfactants, resulting in production of highly uniform hydrogel microparticles (C.V.=1%). Results show that production of monodisperse hydrogel microparticles with controllable size and composition can be achieved with minimal use of oil unlike water-in-oil (w/o) single emulsion-based approach. Furthermore, in-depth study of flow patterns in microfluidic device using a phase diagram exhibits a crucial relationship among relative flow rates while providing windows of readily controllable parameters for reliable manufacturing of hydrogel microparticles.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.10-21
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• 2023

Hydrogels that are made of natural polymer-based double networks have excellent biocompatibility, low cytotoxicity, and high water content, assuring that the material has the properties required for a variety of biomedical applications. However, hydrogels also have limitations due to their relatively weak mechanical properties. In this study, hydrogels based on an alginate di-aldehyde (ADA) and gelatin (Gel) double network that is reinforced with additional hydrogen bonds formed between the hydroxyl (-OH) groups of the hyperbranched polymer (HPG) and the functional groups present inside of the hydrogels were successfully synthesized. The enhanced mechanical properties of these synthesized hydrogels were evaluated by varying the amount of HPG added during the hydrogel synthesis from 0 to 25%. In addition, magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄ NPs) were synthesized within the hydrogels and the structures and the magnetic properties of the hydrogels were also characterized. The hydrogels that contained 15% HPG and Fe₃O₄ NPs exhibited superparamagnetic behaviors with a saturation magnetization value of 3.8 emu g^-1. These particular hydrogels also had strengthened mechanical properties with a maximum compressive stress of 1.1 MPa at a strain of 67.4%. Magnetic hydrogels made with natural polymer-based double networks provide improved mechanical properties and have a significant potential for drug delivery and biomaterial application.

• Journal of Advanced Technology Convergence
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.25-31
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• 2024

In recent industrialization and development due to information and communication technology, modern women in modern society are exposed to physical and mental health due to numerous stresses. Popular inflammations are attributable to a decrease in lactic acid bacteria, frequent antibiotic use, and a decrease in immunity. It is necessary to develop products that are helpful and reflected. The inner care gel currently introduced on the market can increase beneficial bacteria and maintain a healthy y-zone. The inner gel contains a hydrogel component. 90% is made up of water, and other components act as support for supporting water and are formed through crosslinking between polymer chains. Hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) is a hydroxyethyl ethylenetel of cellulose. The purpose of use is to act as a binder, an emulsion stabilizer, a viscosity enhancer (water-soluble), and a film forming agent. CA (crosslinker) is a crosslinking agent and serves to bind. Hydrogel in the beauty field acts as a film forming agent that gently wraps around the skin by forming a thin film and serves as an emulsion stabilizer that helps to prevent separation of other raw materials. It also acts as a thickener by increasing viscosity in cosmetics. In addition, it is used for glucose monitoring, nursing care, cell transplantation, and wound treatment in the bio field. Currently, it is understood that no products using functional hydrogel have been released, so in this study, a Y zone care hydrogel solution was manufactured to find out the antibacterial properties of the functional hydrogel, and a new solution was developed. As a result, it was confirmed that the appropriate Ph was applied to the Y zone, and after culturing Candida albicans in PDB medium, all three products of the Y zone care hydrogel solution showed an antibacterial effect of 0.5-1.0mm

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.632-637
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• 2014

A microfluidic method for the in situ production of monodispersed alginate hydrogels using biocompatible polymer gelation by crosslinker mass transfer is described. Gelation of the hydrogel was achieved in situ by the dispersed calcium ion in the microfluidic device. The capillary number (Ca) and the flow rate of the disperse phase which are important operating parameters mainly influenced the formation of three distinctive flow regions, such as dripping, jetting, and unstable dripping. Under the formation of dripping region, monodispersed alginate hydrogels having a narrow size distribution (C.V=2.71%) were produced in the microfluidic device and the size of the hydrogels, ranging from 30 to $60{\mu}m$, could be easily controlled by varying the flow rate, viscosity, and interfacial tension. This simple microfluidic method for the production of monodisperse alginate hydrogels shows strong potential for use in delivery systems of foods, cosmetics, inks, and drugs, and spherical alginate hydrogels which have biocompatibility will be applied to cell transplantation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.757-764
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• 2012

The surface of graphite fiber fabric anode was modified with a hydrogel and a mixture of hydrogel and multiwall carbon nanotube, and their effectiveness were compared to the unmodified anodes in a batch microbial fuel cell (microbial fuel cells). The maximum power density of the MFC was determined by both performance of the anode and cathode. The maximum power density for the MFC with the anode modified with the mixture of hydrogel and multiwall carbon nanotube was $1,162mW/m^2$ which was 27.7% higher than that with the unmodified graphite fiber fabric anode. "The mixture of hydrogel and multiwall carbon nanotube is a good surface modifier for anode with high biological affinity and low activation losses."

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.24-29
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• 2018

Despite the great potential for the versatile applications in food industry and medical area, chitosan as a biocompatible cationic polysaccharide has suffered from the limited solubility under physiological condition. Herein, we demonstrated the electrostatic formation of chitosan-based polyplex particles, counterbalanced by polyacrylate as an anionic polyelectrolyte. The resulting polyplex exhibited pH- and composition-dependent changes in their surface charges as measured by zeta potential, which can be employed to provide the interparticle repulsive forces for enhanced colloidal stability in homogeneous solution. Subsequently, amide coupling between the acrylates and glucosamine residues of chitosan inside the polyplex further generated the hydrogel particles, which showed the temperature-sensitive swelling property. This aspect can be attributed to the partial formation of acryl amide residues, which have been generally known to possess the lower critical solution temperature (LCST).