Journal
CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS
Volume 111, Issue -, Pages 348-355Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2014.04.087
Keywords
Chitosan; Agarose; Composite hydrogels; Microfluidics; Mechanical properties; Drug release
Categories
Funding
- CSIC
- MEC [PR2011-0272]
- MINECO [MAT 2011-24797]
- NSERC CREATE program
- CIHR (Canada)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The preparation of composite biopolymer hydrogels offers the capability to produce biocompatible and biodegradable materials with cooperative properties. In this paper, two natural polymers, namely, chitosan and agarose were employed to prepare composite hydrogels with dual pH and temperature properties. The elastic modulus of the composite hydrogels increased with agarose concentration reaching the value of 1 kPa for the chitosan/agarose gel with a 2% (w/v) concentration of agarose. In addition, composite gels exhibited a higher stability in acidic aqueous solutions, in comparison with agarose gels. The drug release properties of the composite hydrogels were tested by loading a model anticancer drug, 5-Fluorouracil, in the hydrogel interior. At pH=7.4, the cumulative release of 5-FU was similar to 50% within 96 h and decreased to similar to 33% at pH=5.2, which was attributed to the different solubility of 5-FU as a function of pH. The preparation of composite microgels with controllable dimensions in the range from 42 to 18 mu m and with narrow size distribution (polidispersity not exceeding 1.5%) was achieved by the microfluidic emulsification of an aqueous mixture of chitosan and agarose and subsequent gelation of the precursor droplets by cooling. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved,
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available