Alginate: Enhancement Strategies for Advanced Applications

Abstract

Alginate is an excellent biodegradable and renewable material that is already used for a broad range of industrial applications, including advanced fields, such as biomedicine and bioengineering, due to its excellent biodegradable and biocompatible properties. This biopolymer can be produced from brown algae or a microorganism culture. This review presents the principles, chemical structures, gelation properties, chemical interactions, production, sterilization, purification, types, and alginate-based hydrogels developed so far. We present all of the advanced strategies used to remarkably enhance this biopolymer’s physicochemical and biological characteristics in various forms, such as injectable gels, fibers, films, hydrogels, and scaffolds. Thus, we present here all of the material engineering enhancement approaches achieved so far in this biopolymer in terms of mechanical reinforcement, thermal and electrical performance, wettability, water sorption and diffusion, antimicrobial activity, in vivo and in vitro biological behavior, including toxicity, cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation, immunological response, biodegradation, porosity, and its use as scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. These improvements to overcome the drawbacks of the alginate biopolymer could exponentially increase the significant number of alginate applications that go from the paper industry to the bioprinting of organs.

Changes in the Mechanical Properties of Alginate-Gelatin Hydrogels with the Addition of Pygeum africanum with Potential Application in Urology

“…The G and M-blocks may be arranged in sequence and cross-linking by cations allows to obtain a three-dimensional polymer structure able to bond a large amount of water. Divalent and trivalent cations such as Ca 2+ , Ba 2+ , Mg 2+ , Fe 2+ , and Al 3+ bond covalently G-blocks of alginate creating a structure called “egg-box” [ 40 , 70 , 92 , 93 ]. There is an ongoing discussion about the manner of the cations bond type in the “egg-box” alginate structure.…”

Layered scaffolds in periodontal regeneration

“…In addition, alginate and hyaluronic acid are popular for their great antibacterial properties, but, due to their poor mechanical and stability, they are usually not commonly used in layered scaffold research. 54 …”

Macroalgal-Derived Alginate Soil Amendments for Water Retention, Nutrient Release Rate Reduction, and Soil pH Control

“…Alginate consists of mannuronic (M) and guluronic (G) acid monomers that form either M-block polymers (mannuronic-mannuronic bonds), G-blocks polymers (guluronic-guluronic bonds) or GM-block polymers (guluronic-mannuronic bonds). The ratios and the combinations of these M-, G- and GM-blocks in alginate polymers affect the properties of hydrogels produced from the alginate [ 24 , 25 ]. Macroalgal species rich in alginate (e.g., Ecklonia maxima ) are used as a source of alginate for industrial application, such as a thickening and gelling agent in the pharmaceutical [ 26 ] or food [ 27 ] industries.…”