Preparation of sustained-release hydrogel for controlling dye release by liquid marbles

Abstract

The excellent properties of the hydrogel that swell in water but not dissolved have valuable potential in drug delivery and dye release. In the process of releasing, the accurate load of the initial dye is an important parameter to measure the release property. The preparation sustained-release hydrogel by using liquid marbles as a medium can accurately tune the volume of liquid marbles to control the amount of dye loading. The influences of the amount of crosslinker, the sustained-release medium, the volume of liquid marbles, the temperature, the adhesive powder and the addition of sodium bicarbonate on the sustained-release properties of eosin Y were studied in detail. The results showed that with the increase of volume, the amount of eosin Y release increased but the release rate decreased. The release amount of eosin Y decreases as the amount of crosslinking agent increases. The prepared liquid marbles were hardly released in acidic conditions, but the release amount of eosin Y was improved with the increase of pH. The amount of eosin Y release increased with the increase of temperature. Comparing with the effect of adhesive powder, it is found that the amount of eosin Y release from the brush powder of liquid marbles is faster than that without brush the powder, and the amount of eosin Y release can be accelerated by adding a small amount of sodium bicarbonate. The use of liquid marbles as a medium to preparation sustained-release hydrogel for dye release can not only control the dye loading by accurately controlling the volume of liquid marbles, but also the release rate of dyes can be controlled by tuning the sustained-release medium and other conditions. This method provides a new method for dye release.