Jet Cutting Technique for the Production of Chitosan Aerogel Microparticles Loaded with Vancomycin

Abstract

Biopolymer-based aerogels can be obtained by supercritical drying of wet gels and endowed with outstanding properties for biomedical applications. Namely, polysaccharide-based aerogels in the form of microparticles are of special interest for wound treatment and can also be loaded with bioactive agents to improve the healing process. However, the production of the precursor gel may be limited by the viscosity of the polysaccharide initial solution. The jet cutting technique is regarded as a suitable processing technique to overcome this problem. In this work, the technological combination of jet cutting and supercritical drying of gels was assessed to produce chitosan aerogel microparticles loaded with vancomycin HCl (antimicrobial agent) for wound healing purposes. The resulting aerogel formulation was evaluated in terms of morphology, textural properties, drug loading, and release profile. Aerogels were also tested for wound application in terms of exudate sorption capacity, antimicrobial activity, hemocompatibility, and cytocompatibility. Overall, the microparticles had excellent textural properties, absorbed high amounts of exudate, and controlled the release of vancomycin HCl, providing sustained antimicrobial activity.

Recent Progress in Polysaccharide Aerogels: Their Synthesis, Application, and Future Outlook

“…Meanwhile, Ko and Kim (2020) compared the chemical crosslinking of chitosan and epichlorohydrin with the ionic crosslinking in the presence of itaconic acid to demonstrate advantages of the ionic liquid such as a negligible vapor pressure, high thermal and chemical stability, good recyclability, high electrical conductivity, and good solubility [ 61 , 68 , 82 ]. Other modifications of chitin/chitosan include the substitution of silver nanoparticles [ 65 ], vancomycin [ 83 ], metal organic frameworks [ 22 ], nano silicon/particles [ 11 , 66 , 84 ], and polybenzoxazine/clay [ 44 ]. For applications in the adsorption of pollutants, chitin/chitosan have been modified with glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde, tripolyphosphate, polyaspartic acid sodium salt, and persulfate [ 85 ].…”

Polysaccharide-Based Aerogel Production for Biomedical Applications: A Comparative Review

“…The use of the other drying methods prevented the collapse of the polymer chains and the resulting materials showed macroporosities. López-Iglesias et al [ 111 ] proposed a combination of jet cutting and supercritical drying to produce chitosan aerogel microparticles, loaded with vancomycin, for wound healing. These microparticles were characterized by excellent textural properties and provided a sustained antimicrobial activity.…”

Chemistry of Chitosan Aerogels: Three‐Dimensional Pore Control for Tailored Applications

“…[160][161][162] Ionic cross-linking and sudden changes in pH are well suited to produce gel beads and microbeads.Adding an acidic chitosan solution dropwise into an alkaline bath is arguably the simplest way to make gel beads,w hose size is determined by the size of the droplet, which in turn can be controlled by using dispersion, [83] electrostatic-assisted droplets, [80] and jet cutters. [163,164] Bead preparation can also be combined with spray drying. [128,[137][138][139] In our survey (Tables S1-S4), 266 out of 295 (90.2 %) samples of beads and microbeads are produced via physical gelation (4.4 %chemical, 5.4 %without clear gelation).…”