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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Injectable Supramolecular Polymer-Nanoparticle Hydrogels for Cell and Drug Delivery Applications
Published on: February 7, 2021
Hydrogel-Nanoparticles Composite System for Controlled Drug Delivery
Emanuele Mauri1, Anna Negri2, Erica Rebellato3
1Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering "G. Natta", Politecnico di Milano, via Mancinelli 7, 20131 Milan, Italy. emanuele.mauri@polimi.it.
Abstract:
Biodegradable poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(-lactic acid) (PEG-b-PLA) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by nanoprecipitation with controlled dimension and with different electric charges, as monitored by dynamic light scattering (DLS). Then NPs were loaded within hydrogels (HG) developed for biomedical applications in the central nervous system, with different pore sizes (30 and 90 nm). The characteristics of the resulting composite hydrogel-NPs system were firstly studied in terms of ability to control the release of small steric hindrance drug mimetic. Then, diffusion-controlled release of different charged NPs from different entangled hydrogels was studied in vitro and correlated with NPs electric charges and hydrogel mean mesh size. These studies showed different trends, that depend on NPs superficial charge and HG mesh size. Release experiments and diffusion studies, then rationalized by mathematical modeling, allowed us to build different drug delivery devices that can satisfy different medical needs.
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