Alginate a valuable blend from nature investigated using solid state NMR spectroscopy
Alginates are classified as a group of natural polysaccharides extracted from brown seaweed, they have recently attracted significant attention in the fields of food, cosmetics, bio-medicals and environmental science. Alginates possess unique physicochemical and rheological properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility and high water loading capacity. These properties certify them to be a promising materials for various applications such as; drug delivery, tissue engineering, and wound healing in the biomedical field, thickeners, stabilizers and gelling agents in the food industry, and heavy metal ion adsorption, soil remediation and wastewater treatment in environmental applications. In this thesis, we investigate the monomer composition, structure, dynamics, impurities and drug loading properties of alginate hydrogels for biomedical applications, including the matrix interactions with the solvent and loaded drugs using various solid state NMR techniques.