Synthesis of Chitosan-Based Hydrogels as a Novel Drug Release Device for Wound Healing

The development of the porous, biocompatible and biodegradable hydrogels has been gaining much attention for wound dressing applications. The hydrogels prepared using freeze-thawing method present important properties of high biocompatibility and nontoxicity. The hydrogels that are able to release drugs for prolonged time are widely used biomaterials for wound healing. In this study chitosan CS -based poly-ε-caprolactone PCL hydrogels were prepared using poly vinyl alcohol PVA , poly ethylene glycol PEG and poly vinyl pyrrolidone PVP . PVA-CS-PCL hydrogels only could remain stable at room temperature after synthesis. The properties of the hydrogels were determined with SEM, FTIR, swelling tests and degradation tests. The drugs of ceftazidime CZ as an antibiotic and ketoprofen KP as an analgesic were loaded onto the hydrogels and the loaded hydrogels were used for the drug release studies at pH 5.5 and pH 7.4. All these results suggest that the developed PVA-CS-PCL hydrogels offer significant potential as a wound dressing material