Recent Trends in Application of Amphiphilic Block Copolymer Based Hydrogels

Amphiphilic block copolymer based hydrogels (ABCHs) with hydrophobic and hydrophilic blocks can be constructed by employing synthetic as well as natural polymers. One of the crosslinking methods is covalent crosslinking, in which both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts are chemically crosslinked together. In the present chapter, we have explored the ABCHs synthesized through free radical solution polymerization technique, in which, instead of using conventional crosslinking agents, the monomers contribute towards a hydrophilic polymer segment as well as crosslinking. The properties of these hydrogels, such as biocompatibility, low toxicity, maintained biodegradability, self-assembly, and response to environmental stimuli, have also been detailed. Since the hydrogels have appropriate mechanical properties and can regulate the release of hydrophobic drugs, they have found several uses in the biomedical field. A hydrophobic drug can be uniformly loaded into ABCHs because of a suitable connection between the hydrophobic drug and the hydrophobic polymer chain. They are also capable of delivering both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs because of the presence of both segments. We have further detailed the ABCHs widely used in drug delivery, wound dressing, tissue engineering, and various biomedical applications.