Abstract

In recent years, many research groups paying attention in removal of heavy metal ions from polluted areas and
also controlled drug delivery applications with the hydrogels based on both biomaterials and synthetic grade.
Contamination with these heavy metal ions has also increased public concerns because of their toxicity even at
lower concentrations, besides non-biodegradability and tendency of bioaccumulation. The increasing demand for
the recovery of these metals from industrial effluents has elevated the development and the testing of new sorbing
materials. Cancer is a class of disease which is characterized by abnormal cell growth in an uncontrolled manner
in all over the body. Surgical intervention, radiation, and chemotherapeutic drug are major current cancer
treatments. The use of chemotherapeutic treatment is often restricted by solubility of drugs, adverse systemic
toxicity, and the appearance of drug resistance. Owing to these difficulties, there is a great demand to innovative
drug delivery systems for better controlled and site specific delivery of antitumor drugs and that can overcome
solubility and resistance problems. This review covers the recent developments of hydrogels in separation science
and drug delivery applications. Synthetic methodologies for the fabrication of hydrogels and their responsiveness
(pH and thermoresponsive) were discussed. In addition to this, we are focused on an overview of potential
polymeric hydrogels for metal ion removal and anticancer drug release, paying attention to their efficacy in metal
removal, and controlled release of 5-fluorouracil.