Understanding structure-property relationships is critical for the development of new drug delivery systems. This study investigates the properties of Pluronic smart hydrogel formulations for future use as injectable controlled drug carriers. The smart hydrogels promise to enhance patient compliance, decrease side effects and reduce dose and frequency. Pharmaceutically, these systems are attractive due to their unique sol-gel phase transition in the body, biocompatibility, safety and injectability as solutions before transforming into gel matrices at body temperature. We quantify the structural changes of F127 systems under controlled temperature after flow, as experienced during real bodily injection. Empirical formulae combining the coupled thermal and shear dependency are produced to aid future application of these systems. Induced structural transitions measured in-situ by small angle x-ray and neutron scattering reveal mixed oriented structures that can be exploited to tailor the drug release profile.

Polymeric hydrogels are a complex class of materials with one common feature—the ability to form three-dimensional networks capable of imbibing large amounts of water or biological fluids without being dissolved, acting as self-sustained containers for various purposes, including pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. Transdermal pharmaceutical microneedles are a pain-free drug delivery system that continues on the path to widespread adoption—regulatory guidelines are on the horizon, and investments in the field continue to grow annually. Recently, hydrogels have generated interest in the field of transdermal microneedles due to their tunable properties, allowing them to be exploited as delivery systems and extraction tools. As hydrogel microneedles are a new emerging technology, their fabrication faces various challenges that must be resolved for them to redeem themselves as a viable pharmaceutical option. This article discusses hydrogel microneedles from a material perspective, regardless of their mechanism of action. It cites the recent advances in their formulation, presents relevant fabrication and characterization methods, and discusses manufacturing and regulatory challenges facing these emerging technologies before their approval.

Die drawing has been used to produce polymeric products with superior mechanical properties by orientation of polymer chains. Although this process has been studied for a variety of thermoplastics and composites, there are no current publications exploring its efficacy to enhance thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs). TPVs combine the elasticity and high elongation at break of thermosets while maintaining the processability of a thermoplastic. For the first time, TPVs are die drawn and the effect upon their mechanical and thermal properties is investigated. TPVs based upon ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and polypropylene (PP) as well as ground tyre rubber (GTR) and PP are prepared by dynamic vulcanization using a twin‐screw extruder. In all cases, die drawing leads to an increase in tensile strength and modulus of the material along the drawing direction, often at the cost of elongation at break. At a draw ratio of 2, EPDM/PP TPVs exceed the strength and modulus of neat polypropylene whilst maintaining an elongation at break in excess of 200%. For EPDM/PP, tensile strength increases from ≈21 MPa to over 90 MPa using a draw ratio of 4, whilst for GTR/PP this increases from ≈15 to ≈57 MPa.