Synthesis, Characterization, Properties, and Biomedical Application of Chitosan-Based Hydrogels

Abstract

The prospective applications of chitosan-based hydrogels (CBHs), a category of biocompatible and biodegradable materials, in biomedical disciplines such as tissue engineering, wound healing, drug delivery, and biosensing have garnered great interest. The synthesis and characterization processes used to create CBHs play a significant role in determining their characteristics and effectiveness. The qualities of CBHs might be greatly influenced by tailoring the manufacturing method to get certain traits, including porosity, swelling, mechanical strength, and bioactivity. Additionally, characterization methods aid in gaining access to the microstructures and properties of CBHs. Herein, this review provides a comprehensive assessment of the state-of-the-art with a focus on the affiliation between particular properties and domains in biomedicine. Moreover, this review highlights the beneficial properties and wide application of stimuli-responsive CBHs. The main obstacles and prospects for the future of CBH development for biomedical applications are also covered in this review.

Mimicking the Physicochemical Properties of the Cornea: A Low-Cost Approximation Using Highly Available Biopolymers

“…While these are relevant for biomaterial development, selecting reagents that can allow the synthetic cornea to be obtained is equally relevant, considering both the applicability and accessibility for future translation into the clinic. In this work, gelatin (G), chitosan (C), and poly-D-lysine (P) were chosen not only due to their previously described properties and applications in biomaterial development [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], but also considering their low market price. Particularly, in the case of gelatin selection, it is one of the gold-standard reagents in tissue engineering, as it provides desirable biocompatibility, biodegradability, and cell adhesion, allows enzymatic degradation without an immunogenic response, and is cost-effective, to highlight some characteristics [ 36 ].…”

“…Different formulations of hydrogels were prepared considering the use of the following mixtures: gelatin (1% or 2% w/v), poly-D-lysine (1% v/v), and/or chitosan (1% w/v) dissolved in 0.5 M acetic acid at 40 • C under continuous stirring overnight. The selection of the proposed reagents was made based on their low costs and on previously described biomedical applications [31][32][33][34]. To form a three-dimensional network, each mixture was chemically cross-linked with glutaraldehyde in different concentrations (0.02, 0.05, and 0.10% v/v) following protocols previously reported by Farris et al (2010), with some modifications [35].…”

Biomedical Trends in Stimuli-Responsive Hydrogels with Emphasis on Chitosan-Based Formulations

“…Regarding anion-responsive formulations, a study by Wang et al highlighted that fluoride (F − ) and chloride (Cl − ) prompt the gel to collapse because of their strong hydrogen atom binding, whereas iodide (I − ) causes a color alteration in the gel without complete degradation [66,67]. Chitosan-based hydrogels exhibit gelation and swelling behavior that can be altered by ionic strength [68,69]. A chitosan hydrogel actuator was created by Zhu et al using an anodic electrical writing process.…”

Transparent injectable sericin-honey hydrogel with antioxidant and antibacterial activities combined with feeding sericin accelerates diabetic wound healing

“…Moreover, the porous structure of hydrogel facilitates the loading of cells, drugs, or other biologically active molecules. Therefore, hydrogel attracted great attention in the field of wound repair due to it can protect the damaged wound surface, reduce scar formation, and promote wound healing [8,[37][38][39]. Sericin-based hydrogel has good biocompatibility and physical-chemical properties, and preliminarily shows good wound repair potential [40][41][42].…”