Novel hydrogel obtained by chitosan and dextrin-VA co-polymerization

• Author(s): Ramos, Reinaldo Rodrigues ; Carvalho, Vera ; Gama, F. M.
• Date: 2006
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/5497
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Chitosan; Dextrin-VA; Diffusion coefficient; Hydrogel; Rheology
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

A novel hydrogel was obtained by reticulation of chitosan with dextrin enzymatically linked to vinyl acrylate (dextrin-VA), without cross-linking agents. The hydrogel had a solid-like behaviour with G′ (storage modulus) >> G″ (loss modulus). Glucose diffusion coefficients of 3.9 × 10−6 ± 1.3 × 10−6 cm2/s and 2.9 × 10−6 ± 0.5 × 10−6 cm2/s were obtained for different substitution degrees of the dextrin-VA (20% and 70% respectively). SEM observation revealed a porous structure, with pores ranging from 50 µm to 150 µm.