Development of Polymeric Hydrogels for Sorption and Anti-Cancer Drug

Hydrogels are three-dimensional polymer networks made of hydrophilic polymer chains that are chemically or physically cross-linked. As a result of this crosslinking, hydrogels do not dissolve in water or in physiological solutions, but they readily swell and bear large volume changes. The hydrogels are attractive candidates for various biomedical environmental applications due to their unique biocompatibility, chelating nature, environmental sensitivity along with desirable physical and physiological characteristics. As a part of this book, different types of hydrogels were synthesised and utilised for controlled delivery of a model chemotherapeutic agent 5-flouro uracil (5-FU) and sorption of different metal ions. The objective of this book development of polymeric hydrogels with sequestrated functional groups that are having a chelating ability to remove metal ions and to study the controlled release of 5-FU, a chemotherapeutic agent. The book emphasized on highly effective hydrogels for environmental remediation of toxic metal ions and stimuli responsive hydrogels for controlled drug delivery applications.