Transport of paracetamol in swellable and relaxing polyurethane nanocomposite hydrogels

Polyurethane hydrogels are potentially attractive materials for biomedical applications. They are able to absorb large amount of water, biological fluids or active substances, and thus, they have potential to be used as absorbents or wound-healing dressings. They are also used for the controlled release of therapeutics because of their capacity to embed biologically active agents in their water-swollen network. The presence of organofillized montmorillonite (Cloisite (R) 30B) in polyurethane nanocomposite hydrogels remarkably improves the swelling capability, but on the other hand slows down the release process of an active substance from the matrix. The swelling of paracetamol solution by the nanocomposite matrix and the release process of this active substance from the hydrogel were investigated using gravimetric analysis and spectroscopic method. The kinetics of both these processes were accurately analyzed by the use of Korsmeyer-Peppas and modified Hopfenberg and Weibull models. In the present paper, three different nanocomposite systems with various amounts of Cloisite (R) 30B were studied. The results of these studies confirm beneficial impact of the nanosize effect on the drug diffusion processes in polyurethane nanocomposite hydrogels.