Functional Hydrogels in Drug Delivery : Key Features and Future Perspectives

Deals with the synthesis and characterization of hydrogels specifically used as drug delivery systems. Each chapter includes the most recent updates about the different starting materials employed--whether natural and synthetic--and the improvement, such as modifications of synthetic approach and polymerization technique, of their physicochemical and biological properties to synthetize high performing carriers for specific uses, i.e. stimuli-responsive materials, molecularly imprinted polymers, mucoadhesive materials, carrier for the delivery of high molecular weight drugs, and gene-delivery.