title: Design, preparation and characterization of ulvan based thermosensitive hydrogels.
abstract: The present study is focused on the exploitation and conversion of sulphated polysaccharides obtained from waste algal biomass into high value added material for biomedical applications. ulvan, a sulphated polysaccharide extracted from green seaweeds belonging to Ulva sp. was selected as a suitable material due to its chemical versatility and widely ascertained bioactivity. To date the present work represents the first successful attempt of preparation of ulvan-based hydrogels displaying thermogelling behaviour. ulvan was provided with thermogelling properties by grafting poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) chains onto its backbone as thermosensitive component. To this aim ulvan was properly modified with acryloyl groups to act as macroinitiator in the radical polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide, induced by UV irradiation through a "grafting from" method. The thermogelling properties of the copolymer were investigated by thermal and rheological analyses. Sol-gel transition of the copolymer was found to occur at 30-31 °C thus indicating the feasibility of ulvan for being used as in-situ hydrogel forming systems for biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: BIOlab Research Group, Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa, UdR INSTM Pisa, Via Moruzzi 13, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morelli
authors.affiliation: BIOlab Research Group, Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa, UdR INSTM Pisa, Via Moruzzi 13, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Betti
authors.affiliation: BIOlab Research Group, Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa, UdR INSTM Pisa, Via Moruzzi 13, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Puppi
authors.affiliation: BIOlab Research Group, Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa, UdR INSTM Pisa, Via Moruzzi 13, 56124 Pisa, Italy. Electronic address: federica.chiellini@unipi.it.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chiellini
mesh_terms: D000179:Acrylates / Q000737:chemistry; D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry; D018533:Biomass; D015195:Drug Design; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008970:Molecular Weight; D044367:Phase Transition; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry*; D012212:Rheology; D013431:Sulfates / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D044445:Ulva / Q000737:chemistry; D014866:Waste Products
chemical_list: D000179:Acrylates; D000180:Acrylic Resins; D020100:Hydrogels; D011134:Polysaccharides; D013431:Sulfates; D014866:Waste Products; C571831:ulvan; C052970:poly-N-isopropylacrylamide; C036658:acrylic acid
keywords: Injectable systems; Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide); Thermogelling; UV photopolymerization; Ulvan