Abstract
Composite ferrogels were obtained by encapsulation of magnetic nanoparticles at two different concentrations (2.0 and 5.0 % w/v) within mixed agarose/chitosan hydrogels having different concentrations of agarose (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0% (w/v)) and a fixed concentration of chitosan (0.5% (w/v)). The morphological characterization carried out by scanning electron microscopy showed that dried composite ferrogels present pore sizes in the micrometer range. Thermogravimetric measurements showed that ferrogels present higher degradation temperatures than blank chitosan/agarose hydrogels without magnetic nanoparticles. In addition, measurements of the elastic moduli of the composite ferrogels evidenced that the presence of magnetic nanoparticles in the starting aqueous solutions prevents to some extent the agarose gelation achieved by simply cooling chitosan/agarose aqueous solutions. Finally, it is shown that composite chitosan/agarose ferrogels are able to heat in response to the application of an alternating magnetic field so that they can be considered as potential biomaterials to be employed in magnetic hyperthermia treatments.
Highlights
Hydrogels are defined as three-dimensional polymer networks that are able to retain a large amount of water in their swollen state [1]
Chitosan/Agarose (Chi/Aga) composite ferrogels, without chemical crosslinking, through encapsulation of magnetic nanoparticles dispersed as an aqueous ferrofluid at two different concentrations and we report the preparation method, the morphology, the mechanical properties as a function of temperature, and the Specific Power Absorption (SPA) measurements
We report on a simple method to obtain composite ferrogels from the combination of two natural polymers, chitosan and agarose
Summary
Hydrogels are defined as three-dimensional polymer networks that are able to retain a large amount of water in their swollen state [1]. Hydrogels obtained from natural polymers are currently the focus of considerable scientific research for the development of biomedical applications due to their inherent biocompatibility, biodegradability and because they are susceptible to enzymatic degradation [2,3,4]. An example of natural polymer commonly employed for the preparation of hydrogels is chitosan. Due to the pH-responsiveness and inherent biocompatibility, chitosan gels are attractive for biomedical applications [5,6,7] and specially, as materials for controlled drug delivery [8,9,10,11]. Chitosan hydrogels can be obtained either by physical associations, such as secondary forces (hydrogen, ionic, or hydrophobic bonding) and physical entanglements and by covalent crosslinking [2]
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