9 STABILITY OF POLYSACCHARIDE COMPLEXES: THE EFFECT OF MEDIA AND TEMPERATURE ON THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND STABILITY OF CHITOSAN-TRIPHOSPHATE/ ALGINATE NANOGELS

摘要

1 INTRODUCTION Ionic polysaccharides are able to form complexes by electrostatic interactions. Such complexes are becoming increasingly interesting for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. A variety of complexes is under investigation as scaffolds, to immobilize/encapsulate cells or tissue, to deliver bioactive materials to specific sites, or even to enter cells. Of special interest are micro- and nano-sized spherical materials, which retain a large quantity of water, and which are therefore classified as hydrogels. Chitosan and sodium alginate (Na-alg) belong to the preferred polysaccharide candidates. Hydrophilic micro- and nanocarriers formed from these are considered as having an enormous potential for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Complexes containing chitosan and Na-alg as components are also the subject of this contribution.