Abstract
Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) was employed in this study to design controllable drug release systems because of its non-toxic nature, swelling properties. New interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN) of HPMC / tri-isocyanate crosslinked polyurethane (TCPU) could be prepared on the surfaces of IPN materials. To design “Novel Drug-carrying Matrix Systems”, incorporation of novel structure is important to the possible formation of drug-carrying spaces within the material, which was achieved by using Tris (6-isocyanatohexyl) isocyanurate with three soft hexyl arms in this study. A series of novel drug-carrying matrix systems prepared by crosslinking reaction could be candidates for an excellent and smart potential material. When the polymeric networks were established on the surfaces of resulting materials, the developed hydrophilic interpenetrating polymeric structures of HPMC/ polyurethane could provide good wettability to the wound dressings, particularly for moisture healing application. The materials containing HPMC/polyurethane networks using 1% cross-linking agent showed a water uptake value of 5.1% after one hour, which has great potential for use as wound dressings for moisture healing. Furthermore, a new drug delivery system of hydrophilic IPN was successfully designed and established.