ABSTRACT Carboxymethyl chitosan/polyacrylamide interpenetrated polymer, IPN, hydrogels are prepared by free radical polymerization of acrylamide, AAm, with ammonium persulfate, APS, using N,N,N′,N′‐tetramethylethylenediamine, TEMED, as activator and N,N′‐methylenebisacrylamide, BIS, as cross‐linker in a carboxymethyl chitosan, CMCS, aqueous solution. CMCS is obtained by reacting chitosan with chloroacetic acid under alkaline conditions and is characterized by FTIR, 1 H‐NMR, molecular weight and isoelectric point. The hydrogels are prepared using four different AAm/CMCS weight ratios (100/0, 90/10, 80/20, 70/30) and are examined by FTIR, elemental analysis, SEM, DSC and TGA. The water absorption capacity of hydrogels and its dependence on pH, temperature and composition are also evaluated. Hydrogels are tested for the release of Ciprofloxacin in phosphate buffer (PBS pH 7.4) at 37°C, and the kinetics of the process are studied. These hydrogels show potential applications in the controlled release of antibiotics and represent an alternative for antimicrobial wound dressings.
García et al. (Fri,) studied this question.