(660g) Formation and Stability of Foams in Pluronic Solutions for Biomedical Applications

In certain biomedical applications, the delivery of particles to specific locations in the body with minimal fluid volume is an important engineering problem. In such applications, we are investigating foams as delivery vehicles which both homogenize the particle dispersion as well as decrease the fluid volume required for delivery.

We are interested in the formation and stability of foams that use poloxamers in saline solution as the foaming agent. Poloxamers are both biocompatible and phase separate at elevated temperatures to form highly stable nanostructures, which lead to the formation of gels.

In this work, we examine the efficacy of poloxamer solutions in forming wet and dry foams over a wide range of concentrations in the presence and absence of salt and particles. We present the rheological phase diagrams for a bulk poloxamer in water and normal saline and the effect of particles on the bulk rheology. Further, we discuss the dependence of rheology and stability of poloxamer foams on the volume fraction, bulk liquid rheology, and the presence of particles.