Chitosan based hybrid hydrogels for drug delivery: Preparation, biodegradation, thermal, and mechanical properties

In the present paper, biodegradable hybrid hydrogels were prepared by using chitosan as a natural polymer and polyurethane containing azomethine as a synthetic polymer for the drug delivery application for 5-fluorouracil. The fabricated hydrogels were characterized via FT-IR and SEM analysis. Besides, the thermal, mechanical, and wettability properties, water uptake, biodegradation, protein absorption, drug loading, and release behaviors of the hybrid hydrogels were studied. The obtained results indicated that the fabricated hybrid hydrogels have exhibited good mechanical, hydrophilic, water uptake, and biodegradation behaviors. The hybrid hydrogels also showed 50% drug release amounts and they could be a good candidate for the controlled delivery of 5-FU due to these properties.