Hydrophilic drug-loaded shape memory hydrophobic films fabricated via emulsion templating: shape memory and drug loading-release relationship

Release time:2026-06-22  Hits:

• Journal:Materials Today Chemistry
• Key Words:PCL-PTMG-PCL，PLLA，Shape memory，Emulsion templating，Hydrophilic drug
• Abstract:Although biodegradable shape memory polymers (SMPs) have shown great promise for drug encapsulation, the incorporation of hydrophilic drugs into hydrophobic SMP matrices remains a significant challenge due to inherent polarity mismatches. Such incompatibility often impairs both the uniformity of drug release and the stability of Shape Memory (SM) performance. In this work, hydrophilic aspirin was integrated into a hydrophobic polymer blend-comprising synthesized polycapro-lactone-polytetrahydrofuran-polycaprolactonepolycaprolactone (PCL-PTMG-PCL) as switching phase and poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) as fixing phase-via emulsion templating to fabricate medicated shape memory polymer (SMP) films. Comprehensive characterizations were conducted to investigate the structural features, thermal properties, mechanical behaviors, and SM performance of materials. The correlation between drug loading and SM was demonstrated. At low drug loadings (≤30 mg), the melting temperature (Tm) of PCL-PTMG-PCL, as well as the Tm and crystallinity (Xc) of PLLA, were reduced slightly, while the thermal diffusivity (α) of the SMP system was enhanced. Despite the disruption of regular “seaisland”microstructure of materials by the loaded drug, the SM performance remained largely unaltered, with shape fixing rate (Rf) and shape recovery rate (Rr) reaching 87.5% and 94.1%, respectively. Excessive drug loading (≥40 mg) compromised SM efficacy. The relationship of SM cycling with drug release kinetics was explored further: with the SM rounds increased from 0 to 3, the drug release mechanism transitioned from "restricted Fickian diffusion" to "super-Fickian diffusion,” attributed to microstructural reorganization induced by SM. The drug release rate of medicated film after 3 rounds of SM increased from 23% (pristine state) to 87%. This work demonstrates the feasibility of loading hydrophilic drugs into hydrophobic SMPs via emulsion templating and establishes a direct link between SM behavior and controlled drug release, thereby expanding the potential applications of SMPs from intelligent medical devices to advanced drug delivery systems.
• Co-author:黄媛
• First Author:宋晓峰（教师）
• Indexed by:Journal paper
• Volume:53
• Page Number:103567
• Translation or Not:no
• Date of Publication:2026-03-27
• Included Journals:SCI

• 1.2026-MTChe.pdf