Preparation and Swelling Behaviour of Calcium-Alginate and Calcium Alginate-Chitosan Hydrogel Beads

Authors

  • Samira Askarkiaee Department of Chemical Engineering, Mazandaran University of Science and Technology, Babol, Iran.
  • Mazyar Sharifzadeh Baei * Department of Chemical Engineering, Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Islamic Azad University, Amol, Iran. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6181-6076

https://doi.org/10.48313/bic.vi.30

Abstract

Hydrogels are three-dimensional crosslinked polymeric structures that are able to swell in an aqueous environment. Use of the natural polymer, Sodium Alginate (SA), as the scaffold material in hydrogels has been highly pursued thanks to the polymer's biocompatibility. SA, which is a naturally occurring non-toxic polysaccharide found in marine brown algae, is one of the polysaccharides employed to fabricate small hydrogel beads. The reinforcement of alginate beads has been done by incorporating polymers, such as chitosan. These beads can be prepared using an ionotropic gelation method. In this research, the swelling ability of the calcium alginate and chitosan-treated calcium alginate beads in solutions with different pH values was investigated. They exhibited significant swelling rates when exposed to the slightly alkaline environment. Thus, these beads are a good candidate to be studied as a polymeric carrier for drug delivery in the intestinal tract.   

Keywords:

Hydrogel, Sodium alginate, Chitosan, Swelling behavior, Ionotropic gelation

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Published

2025-01-17

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2025): Biocompounds

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Askarkiaee, S. ., & Sharifzadeh Baei, M. . (2025). Preparation and Swelling Behaviour of Calcium-Alginate and Calcium Alginate-Chitosan Hydrogel Beads. Biocompounds, 2(1), 10-16. https://doi.org/10.48313/bic.vi.30