Novel Hydrogel Membranes Based on the Bacterial Polysaccharide FucoPol

Araújo, Diana; Martins, Matilde; Concórdio-Reis, Patrícia; Roma-Rodrigues, Catarina; Morais, Maria; Alves, Vítor D.; Fernandes, Alexandra R.; Freitas, Filomena

http://hdl.handle.net/10362/159722

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Autores

Araújo, Diana

Martins, Matilde

Concórdio-Reis, Patrícia

Roma-Rodrigues, Catarina

Morais, Maria

Alves, Vítor D.

Fernandes, Alexandra R.

Freitas, Filomena

Resumo(s)

FucoPol, a fucose-rich polyanionic polysaccharide, was used for the first time for the preparation of hydrogel membranes (HMs) using Fe3+ as a crosslinking agent. This study evaluated the impact of Fe3+ and FucoPol concentrations on the HMs’ strength. The results show that, above 1.5 g/L, Fe3+ concentration had a limited influence on the HMs’ strength, and varying the FucoPol concentration had a more significant effect. Three different FucoPol concentrations (1.0, 1.75 and 2.5 wt.%) were combined with Fe3+ (1.5 g/L), resulting in HMs with a water content above 97 wt.% and an Fe3+ content up to 0.16 wt.%. HMs with lower FucoPol content exhibited a denser porous microstructure as the polymer concentration increased. Moreover, the low polymer content HM presented the highest swelling ratio (22.3 ± 1.8 g/g) and a lower hardness value (32.4 ± 5.8 kPa). However, improved mechanical properties (221.9 ± 10.2 kPa) along with a decrease in the swelling ratio (11.9 ± 1.6 g/g) were obtained for HMs with a higher polymer content. Furthermore, all HMs were non-cytotoxic and revealed anti-inflammatory activity. The incorporation of FucoPol as a structuring agent and bioactive ingredient in the development of HMs opens up new possibilities for its use in tissue engineering, drug delivery and wound care management.