Alginate and alginate composites for biomedical applications

Alginate is an edible heteropolysaccharide that abundantly available in the brown seaweed and the capsule of bacteria such as Azotobacter sp.and Pseudomonas sp.Owing to alginate gel forming capability,it is widely used in food,textile and paper industries;and to a lesser extent in biomedical applications as biomaterial to promote wound healing and tissue regeneration.This is evident from the rising use of alginate-based dressing for heavily exuding wound and their mass availability in the market nowadays.However,alginate also has limitation.When in contact with physiological environment,alginate could gelate into softer structure,consequently limits its potential in the soft tissue regeneration and becomes inappropriate for the usage related to load bearing body parts.To cater this problem,wide range of materials have been added to alginate structure,producing sturdy composite materials.For instance,the incorporation of adhesive peptide and natural polymer or synthetic polymer to alginate moieties creates an improved composite material,which not only possesses better mechanical properties compared to native alginate,but also grants additional healing capability and promote better tissue regeneration.In addition,drug release kinetic and cell viability can be further improved when alginate composite is used as encapsulating agent.In this review,preparation of alginate and alginate composite in various forms(fibre,bead,hydrogel,and 3D-printed matrices)used for biomedical application is described first,followed by the discussion of latest trend related to alginate composite utilization in wound dressing,drug delivery,and tissue engineering applications.

Effect of Y-Methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) and Tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) Towards Preparation of Oil Absorbent Foams from Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Reinforced with Microfibrillated Cellulose (MFC)

Increasing usage of foams in various industry sectors had causing serious disposal problems once it reaches the end of its life-cycle.Herein,PVA-MFC foam was prepared by freeze-drying using polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)and microfibrillated cellulose(MFC)as a reinforced material from sugarcane bagasse(SCB).In this study,the PVA-MFC foam was chemically silylated with Y-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane(MPS)and tetraethoxysilane(TEOS).The wetting ability and mechanical strength of the silylated_(2,20)PVA-MFC foam was greatly enhanced compared with unmodified_(2,20)PVA-MFC foam.The silane chemicals(MPS and TEOS)had been confirmed grafted on_(2,20)PVA-MFC foam due to the presence of Si-C and Si-O-C stretching vibration as showed in Fourier Transform Infrared(FTIR)spectra and cloud-like coating of porous pore was observed in scanning electron microscopy(SEM)images.The silylated_(2,20)PVA-MFC foam(MPS and TEOS)exhibited a series of desirable properties such as lower swelling ratio and high absorption capacity of solvents and oils but had low thermal stability in thermogravimetric(TGA)analysis.The characterization of_(2,20)PVA-MFC foam using TEOS was further investigated.A significant difference in morphology was clearly observed between the unmodified and silylated_(2,20)PVA-MFC-TEOS foam through field emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM)images.The X-ray photoelectron(XPS)analysis of silylated_(2,20)PVA-MFC-TEOS foam confirmed the presence of C,O and trace amount of Si elements.These synthesized_(2,20)PVA-MFC foam could be a promising material for broad range of polymer foam applications.