Novel thermo-responsive polyurethane-based hydrogels encapsulating pH-sensitive mesoporous silica nanocarriers

In this work, a novel polyurethane-based hydrogel system encapsulating pH-sensitive nanocarriers has been designed for the triggered release of therapeutic drugs. Two polyurethanes were synthesized to produce functional and temperature-sensitive hydrogels, which were characterized in terms of their physical properties in physiological or pathological aqueous environments, i.e. at pH values of 7.4 and 5. The pH response of hydrogels and release kinetics from encapsulated nanoparticles put in contact with different milieu were also studied.