Polyethersulfone/poly(acrylic acid) composite hydrogel membrane reservoirs for controlled delivery of cationic drug formulations

Abstract We present the innovative synthesis of polyethersulfone/poly(acrylic acid) composite hydrogel membranes performed by combining photoirradiation with a traditional liquid phase inversion process. Fabricated membranes exhibited ion exchange capacity and water content as high as 5.2 mmol/g and 75%, respectively. The chemical composition of the membranes was determined using FTIR-ATR and their microstructure was examined with SEM. Our findings suggest that the use of hydrophilic crosslinker was crucial for the synthesis of symmetric and mechanically stable composite hydrogel membranes. Passive and iontophoretic release kinetics from membrane reservoirs synthesized with the hydrophilic crosslinker were investigated in vitro using methylene blue as a model drug. Passive release kinetics was diffusion-controlled with pH-sensitive and loading-dependent behavior. Linear release kinetics was demonstrated during the iontophoretic release. Synthesized composite hydrogel membranes hold a lot of promise as compact stand-alone reservoirs for passive and iontophoretic delivery of cationic drugs.