Organogels as Biomaterials for Drug Delivery & Device Development

Dear Colleagues, 

Organogels are a semi-solid material which contains solid and liquid components, where a solid compound (organogelator) is used at low quantities as a network to immobilize the liquid component via physical interactions such as hydrogen bonding, π–π stacking, and Van der Waals forces, or chemical interactions, such as covalent links. Interest in organogels has increased in recent years. These viscoelastic systems comprise a continuous liquid phase (typically an organic solvent, emollient, mineral or vegetable oils) immobilized in a three-dimensional network of self-assembled (with a low molecular mass organic gelator) or crosslinked or entangled gelator fibers (with polymeric gelators). They are used in various fields, including chemistry, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, biotechnologies, and food technology. In pharmacology, they are used as drug and vaccine delivery platforms for active ingredients via diverse routes, such as transdermal, oral, ophthalmic, and parenteral. Unfortunately, their use as a drug delivery system is mainly limited by the huge toxicity of the organic solvent used. Over the past few years, these organogel systems have overcome major hurdles, especially in the use of more biocompatible, biodegradable organic solvents and organogelators, such as those derived from bile or insect blood, which are more pharmaceutically accepted and environmentally friendly. This Special Issue aims to pay particular attention to organogels as drug delivery and device development systems for active pharmaceutical ingredients and their potential therapeutic applications.

Dr. Plamen Kirilov
Guest Editor

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• organogels
• drug delivery
• biomaterials
• device development
• pharmaceutics
• drug reservoirs
• smart delivery systems
• smart formulations