Biocompatible waterborne polyurethane-urea elastomer as intelligent anticancer drug release matrix: A sustained drug release study

Abstract Waterborne biodegradable polyurethane–urea (WPUU) elastomer is a revolutionary step in the field of green polymer chemistry. In the present study, emulsifier–free biodegradable WPUU elastomer was synthesized by using lysine as an internal emulsifier as well as a chain extender. WPUU elastomer was used as the stimuli–responsive drug release matrix, loaded by cisplatin as a model anticancer drug. Sustained drug release was studied by changing pH (4.4–7.4), drug release medium, and NCO/OH ratio (3–4). Furthermore, significantly inhibitory effect against Sw–620 cancer lines was observed. Highest cumulative drug release of 71.9% was observed at pH of 7.4 in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) by the system having NCO/OH = 3 for 250 h. The oxidative degradation was evaluated in CoCl 2 /H 2 O 2 solution. Mechanical properties were tested by using the mechanical testing machine. The synthesized WPUU films exhibited high thermal stability, hardness, tensile strength and hydrophobicity.