Polymers 2012, 4(2), 997-1011; doi:10.3390/polym4020997
Review

Hydrogels from Biopolymer Hybrid for Biomedical, Food, and Functional Food Applications

Lin Shu Liu 1,* email, Joseph Kost 2 email, Fang Yan 3 email and Robert C. Spiro 4 email
1 Eastern Regional Research Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 600 East Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA 19038, USA 2 Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel 3 School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, 2215 Garland Avenue, MRB IV 1035J, Nashville, TN 37232, USA 4 RCS Consulting, 213 Central Avenue, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 1 March 2012; in revised form: 27 March 2012 / Accepted: 29 March 2012 / Published: 13 April 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from the 3rd International Congress on Biohydrogels (Biohydrogels 2011))
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [635 KB, uploaded 13 April 2012 11:18 CEST]
Abstract: Hybrid hydrogels from biopolymers have been applied for various indications across a wide range of biomedical, pharmaceutical, and functional food industries. In particular, hybrid hydrogels synthesized from two biopolymers have attracted increasing attention. The inclusion of a second biopolymer strengthens the stability of resultant hydrogels and enriches its functionalities by bringing in new functional groups or optimizing the micro-environmental conditions for certain biological and biochemical processes. This article presents approaches that have been used by our groups to synthesize biopolymer hybrid hydrogels for effective uses for immunotherapy, tissue regeneration, food and functional food applications. The research has achieved some challenging results, such as stabilizing physical structure, increasing mucoadhesiveness, and the creation of an artificial extracellular matrix to aid in guiding tissue differentiation.
Keywords: hydrogel; biopolymer; hybrid; controlled drug delivery; tissue engineering; functional food

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Liu, L.S.; Kost, J.; Yan, F.; Spiro, R.C. Hydrogels from Biopolymer Hybrid for Biomedical, Food, and Functional Food Applications. Polymers 2012, 4, 997-1011.

AMA Style

Liu LS, Kost J, Yan F, Spiro RC. Hydrogels from Biopolymer Hybrid for Biomedical, Food, and Functional Food Applications. Polymers. 2012; 4(2):997-1011.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Liu, Lin Shu; Kost, Joseph; Yan, Fang; Spiro, Robert C. 2012. "Hydrogels from Biopolymer Hybrid for Biomedical, Food, and Functional Food Applications." Polymers 4, no. 2: 997-1011.

Polymers EISSN 2073-4360 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert