In the last years, polymer-based beads are emerging as promising platforms for biomedical use, especially in the areas of drug delivery and molecular release in cell culture. Biocompatible polymers from natural sources such as polysaccharides have been variously processed through several methods to produce smart devices with controlled transport properties. For this purpose, ionotropic crosslinking is a high versatile strategy to manufacture stable beads from polyelectrolytes in the presence of ions (i.e., Ca2+, Na+). This approach can be implemented by several process technologies to fabricate micro-sized beads with controllable size, shape and good stability. Moreover, ionotropically crosslinked beads (ICBs) also offer the opportunity to introduce functional groups for the development of smart devices with multiple bioactive functions to be used as smart carrier for selective drug delivery. In this chapter, it will be proposed an overview of the current use of main ionotropic polymers (i.e., alginate, chitosan, gellan gum etc.) and different technologies recently implemented for fabrication of beads for drug delivery and in vitro release.
Distretto tecnologico per l'ingegneria dei materiali polimerici e compositi e strutture