NEW HYDROGELS BASED ON CARBOHYDRATE AND ON CARBOHYDRATE-SYNTHETIC POLYMER NETWORKS

Novel synthetic routes recently explored in our laboratories in order to obtain crosslinked polymeric samples, comprising either chitosan or gellan as polysaccharidic components, are outlined. The former networ ks, in which different crosslinking partners have been used (i.e. oxid ized cyclodextrin and telechelic poly(vinylalcohol)), can bear fixed p ositive charges while the latter are anionic. Zwitterionic networks fo rmed by the template polymerization of acrylic acid onto chitosan with concomitant crosslinking (bisacrylamide) have also been prepared. Pro cedures adopted are simple and, once optimized, may lead to biocompati ble hydrogels, with easily tunable physical properties, of potential i nterest in the biomedical area. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Limited.