Alginate Based Hydrogel in Drug Delivery and Biomedical Applications

Abstract

AbstractAlginates are polysaccharides resourced from natural sources such as brown algae and bacteria. Alginate is a natural, biodegradable, biocompatible and non-toxic polymer possessing numerous specific physicochemical properties. These properties are responsible for its wide applications in the emerging area of biomedical sciences. Alginates undergo crosslinking with di- or tri-valent metal ions at room temperature to form uniform, transparent, thermo-irreversible gels which are insoluble in water. These properties also help in the preparation of various formulations of Alginate. Formulation of Alginate hydrogel, can be accomplished by employing physical or chemical cross-linking strategies. Alginate hydrogels owing to their inherent properties encompass tremendous potential and will have wide applications in Drug Delivery as well as Biomedical sciences. Therefore, in view of the vast literature support, we have discussed the applications of alginate hydrogels in drug delivery as well as biomedical sciences. Various properties of alginates, their hydrogels along with the various techniques employed for fabricating alginate hydrogels have been reviewed.Keywords AlginateHydrogelChemical and physical cross-linkingDrug delivery