Poly-Ionic Liquids as New Hydrogel Materials: Synthesis, Characterization and Application

New hydrogel materials were successfully syn- thesized by polymerization of imidazolium-based ionic liquids. These materials were fully characterized to com- pare chemical and mechanical properties with alginate based gels. The synthesized hydrogels are currently under investigation in vitro to determine drug release behaviour of drug-coated balloons within a vessel-simulating flow- through cell.