Polymer synthesis gets a jolt of caffeine

Caffeine is well-known for its ability to help people stay alert, but a team of researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital has now come up with a novel use for this chemical stimulant — catalyzing the formation of polymer materials.

Using caffeine as a catalyst, the researchers have devised a way to create gummy, biocompatible gels that could be used for drug delivery and other medical applications.

In their paper, which appears the journal Biomaterials, the researchers demonstrated that they could load the gels with two antimalarial drugs, and they expect the material could also be used to carry other types of drugs. Drugs carried by this kind of material could be chewable or easier to swallow, the researchers say.

Read more at MIT

Image Credit: MIT

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