Although hydrogels are promising transdermal patches, they face spatiotemporal problems related to controlled drug release. From the "spatio" perspective, hydrogels are not malleable, therefore they do not fully contact curved skin, such as that found on the nose and fingers. From the "temporal" perspective, the internal network of a hydrogel retards cargo release. Herein, a malleable and rapid-cargo-releasing poly(vinyl alcohol)-borax hydrogel that embeds freely mobile poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) micelles is prepared. The in situ polymerization of PHEMA within the matrix produces large compound micelle particles that are not bound by the matrix. The micelles act as expellers by sweeping out cargo upon exposure to wet conditions through a concentration gradient. The hydrogel embedded with the micellar cargo-expellers delivers a 25-fold larger 3-min release quantity of Nile Red (a model cargo) than the control hydrogel. The particles absorb mechanical shocks and the dynamic borate-diol bonds engender the hydrogel with self-healing properties, which results in a hydrogel that tightly contacts highly curved skin. Moreover, the hydrogel shows no toxicity in in vivo and skin irritation tests. This malleable hydrogel will inspire novel prompt skin-patch systems for pharmaceutical and cosmetics purposes.
Keywords: borate-diol; malleable hydrogels; micelle-embedded hydrogels; self-healing hydrogels; transdermal patches.
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