Chitosan with abundant functional groups is regarded as important ingredients for preparing aerogel materials in life science. The biocompatibility and biodegradability of chitosan aerogels, coupled to the variety of chemical functionalities they include, result in them promising carriers for drug delivery. Moreover, chitosan aerogels as drug delivery vehicles can offer improved drug bioavailability and drug loading capacity due to their highly porous network, considerably large specific surface area and polycationic feature. The major focus of this review lies in preparation methods of chitosan aerogels from acidic aqueous solution and chitosan solution in Ionic Liquids (ILs). In addition, chitosan aerogels as drug delivery carriers are introduced in detail and expected to inspire readers to create new kind of drug delivery system based on chitosan aerogels. Finally, growing points and perspectives of chitosan aerogels in drug delivery system are given.
A novel microgels were polymerized using styrene (St), methyl methacrylate (MMA), acrylamide (AAm), and acrylic acid (AAc) monomers in the presence of N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) cross-linker. Pre-emulsified monomer was first prepared followed by polymerizing monomers using semi-batch emulsion polymerization. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and (1)H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) were used to determine the chemical structure and to indentify the related functional group. Grafting and cross-linking of poly(acrylamide-co-acrilic acid)-grafted-poly(styrene-co-methyl methacrylate) [poly(AAm-co-AAc)-g-poly(St-co-MMA)] microgels are approved by the disappearance of band at 1300 cm(-1), 1200 cm(-1) and 1163 cm(-1) of FTIR spectrum and the appearance of CH peaks at 5.5-5.7 ppm in (1)H NMR spectrum. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images indicated that poly(St-co-MMA) particle was lobed morphology coated by cross-linked poly(AAm-co-AAc) shell. Furthermore, SEM results revealed that poly(AAm-co-AAc)-g-poly(St-co-MMA) is composite particle that consist of "raspberry"-shape like structure core. Internal structures of the microgels showed homogeneous network of pores, an extensive interconnection among pores, thicker pore walls, and open network structures. Water absorbency test indicated that the sample with particle size 0.43 μm had lower equilibrium water content, % than the sample with particle size 7.39 μm.
Non-healing wounds have placed an enormous stress on both patients and healthcare systems worldwide. Severe complications induced by these wounds can lead to limb amputation or even death and urgently require more effective treatments. Electrospun scaffolds have great potential for improving wound healing treatments by providing controlled drug delivery. Previously, we developed fibrous scaffolds from complex carbohydrate polymers [i.e. chitin-lignin (CL) gels]. However, their application was limited by solubility and undesirable burst drug release. Here, a coaxial electrospinning is applied to encapsulate the CL gels with polycaprolactone (PCL). Presence of a PCL shell layer thus provides longer shelf-life for the CL gels in a wet environment and sustainable drug release. Antibiotics loaded into core-shell fibrous platform effectively inhibit both gram-positive and -negative bacteria without inducting observable cytotoxicity. Therefore, PCL coated CL fibrous gel platforms appear to be good candidates for controlled drug release based wound dressing applications.