Chitosan-based composite hydrogels for biomedical applications

During the last decade, hydrogels prepared from biodegradable polymers, especially natural biodegradable polymers, have been studied extensively for drug delivery and tissue engineering. Chitosan, one of the most abundant natural polymers, is a good candidate and the most widely studied polymer for biomedical applications. To improve physiochemical, biological and other properties of chitosan, many efforts have been made in fabrication of chitosan-based composited hydrogels by physical blending or chemical modifications. Frequently used components include natural polymers, synthetic polymers, inorganic particles and small molecules. In this review, we summarize recent works that are related to chitosan-based composite hydrogels for biomedical applications.