Synthesis And Characterisation Of Multifunctional Hydrogels For Biomedical Applications

Synthesis and Characterisation of Multifunctional Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications

Multifunctional Hydrogels

Hydrogels are important polymer-based materials with innate fascinating properties and applications: they are three-dimensional, hydrophilic, polymeric networks that can absorb large amounts of water or aqueous fluids and are biocompatible, mechanically flexible, and soft. The incorporation of functionalities to develop smart and bioactive platforms has led to a myriad of applications. This book offers a comprehensive overview of multifunctional hydrogels, covering fundamentals, properties, and advanced applications in a progressive way. While each chapter can be read stand-alone, together they clearly describe the fundamental concepts of design, synthesis, and fabrication, as well as properties and performances of smart multifunctional hydrogels and their advanced applications in the biomedical, environmental, and robotics fields. This book: • Introduces readers to different hydrogel materials and the polymer types used to fabricate them. • Discusses conducting polymer hydrogels, nanocomposite hydrogels, and self-healing hydrogels. • Covers synthesis methodologies and fabrication techniques commonly used to confer certain structures and/or architectures. • Shows how hydrogels can be modified to incorporate new functionalities able to respond to physical and/or chemical changes. • Examines applications including bioelectronics, sensors and biosensors, tissue engineering, drug delivery, antipathogen applications, cancer theranostics, environmental applications, and soft robotics, with chapters showcasing the main advances achieved up to date in every field. Multifunctional Hydrogels: From Basic Concepts to Advanced Applications serves as a valuable resource for academic and industry researchers from interdisciplinary fields including materials science, chemistry, chemical engineering, bioengineering, physics, and pharmaceutical engineering.

Functional Nanocomposite Hydrogels

Functional Nanocomposite Hydrogels: Synthesis, Characterization, and Biomedical Applications reviews how the unique properties of nanoscale composite materials make them ideal candidates for use in biomedical hydrogels. The book covers a range of key nanocomposite materials for use in biomedical hydrogels, including graphene quantum dot, cellulose and collagen nanocomposites. A wide selection of biomedical applications for functional nanocomposite hydrogels is explored, from drug delivery and cancer therapy, to wound healing and bioimaging. This is a key reference for those working in the fields of biomaterials, nanotechnology, pharmacology, biomedical engineering, and anyone with a particular interest in composites and hydrogels. To improve the properties of conventional hydrogels, nanoparticles or nanostructures are incorporated into the hydrogel networks, forming a composite hydrogel with specialized functional properties which are tailored to a specific biomedical application. - Reviews the benefits and challenges of nanocomposites as novel materials in biomedical hydrogels, providing the reader with a wider range of choice and improved options for hydrogel development - Describes the synthesis and characterization of nanocomposite hydrogels, offering end-to-end analysis of the process - Details the range of applications in biomedicine for nanocomposite hydrogels, including biosensing, antimicrobics and drug delivery