Chitosan grafted/cross-linked with biodegradable polymers: a review

Public perception of polymers has been drastically changed with the improved plastic management at the end of their life. However, it is widely recognised the need of developing biodegradable polymers, as an alternative to traditional petrochemical polymers. Chitosan (CH), a biodegradable biopolymer...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Sánchez Salvador, José Luis, Balea Martín, Ana, Monte Lara, María Concepción, Negro Álvarez, Carlos Manuel, Blanco Suárez, María Ángeles
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/109590
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/109590
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:66
Chitosan
Grafting
Crosslinking
Copolymerization
Chemical modifications
Biodegradable polymers
Ingeniería química
3303 Ingeniería y Tecnología Químicas
Descripción
Sumario:Public perception of polymers has been drastically changed with the improved plastic management at the end of their life. However, it is widely recognised the need of developing biodegradable polymers, as an alternative to traditional petrochemical polymers. Chitosan (CH), a biodegradable biopolymer with excellent physiological and structural properties, together with its immunostimulatory and antibacterial activity, is a good candidate to replace other polymers, mainly in biomedical applications. However, CH has also several drawbacks, which can be solved by chemical modifications to improve some of its characteristics such as solubility, biological activity, and mechanical properties. Many chemical modifications have been studied in the last decade to improve the properties of CH. This review focussed on a critical analysis of the state of the art of chemical modifications by cross-linking and graft polymerization, between CH or CH derivatives and other biodegradable polymers (polysaccharides or proteins, obtained from microorganisms, synthetized from biomonomers, or from petrochemical products). Both techniques offer the option of including a wide variety of functional groups into the CH chain. Thus, enhanced and new properties can be obtained in accordance with the requirements for different applications, such as the release of drugs, the improvement of antimicrobial properties of fabrics, the removal of dyes, or as scaffolds to develop bone tissues.