Also: sodium alginate, seaweed polysaccharide, brown seaweed
Alginate is a sugar-based polymer extracted from brown seaweed. It gels instantly with calcium, so it is used in wound dressings, cell encapsulation, 3D bioprinting inks and edible or compostable packaging. Biomedical entries are descriptive only, not medical advice.
Readiness: lab lab studies · prototype demonstrated objects · commercial products or buildings in real use · review summaries of other studies.
Studied structure, gelation rate and mechanical properties of ionically crosslinked alginate hydrogels as tissue engineering scaffolds.
Built / tested: hydrogel scaffolds
As reported in: Kuo, Ma (2001). Ionically crosslinked alginate hydrogels as scaffolds for tissue engineering: Part 1. Structure, gelation rate and mechanical properties. Biomaterials. doi:10.1016/s0142-9612(00)00201-5
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Evaluated an in-situ forming hydrogel wound dressing based on oxidised alginate and gelatin.
Built / tested: wound dressings
As reported in: Balakrishnan, Mohanty, Umashankar et al. (2005). Evaluation of an in situ forming hydrogel wound dressing based on oxidized alginate and gelatin. Biomaterials. doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2005.04.012
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Collagen-alginate used as a bioink for 3D cell printing in cartilage tissue engineering.
Built / tested: bioinks
As reported in: Yang, Lu, Wu et al. (2018). Collagen-alginate as bioink for three-dimensional (3D) cell printing based cartilage tissue engineering. Materials Science and Engineering: C. doi:10.1016/j.msec.2017.09.002
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A high-strength, high-toughness sodium alginate/polyacrylamide double network hydrogel with self-healing and self-recovery, made in one pot.
Built / tested: hydrogels
As reported in: Zheng, Zhao, Wang et al. (2020). High-strength and high-toughness sodium alginate/polyacrylamide double physically crosslinked network hydrogel with superior self-healing and self-recovery properties prepared by a one-pot method. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects. doi:10.1016/j.colsurfa.2019.124402
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A review of seaweed polysaccharides in active and intelligent packaging, edible films and coatings.
As reported in: Perera, Sharma, Pradhan et al. (2021). Seaweed Polysaccharide in Food Contact Materials (Active Packaging, Intelligent Packaging, Edible Films, and Coatings). Foods. doi:10.3390/foods10092088
Compared chitosan, crosslinked chitosan and chitosan-alginate beads for adsorbing copper ions from water.
Built / tested: adsorbent beads
As reported in: Ngah, Fatinathan (2008). Adsorption of Cu(II) ions in aqueous solution using chitosan beads, chitosan–GLA beads and chitosan–alginate beads. Chemical Engineering Journal. doi:10.1016/j.cej.2007.12.006
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