Fabrication of bacterial derived natural polysaccharide-based copolymer network hydrogels for use in drug delivery applications

Abstract

Researchers are currently exploring polysaccharide gums extensively to develop materials for biomedical applications. Herein, the bacterial-derived natural polysaccharide xanthan gum (XG) was utilized to develop copolymer network hydrogels to use in drug delivery (DD) applications for sustainable development. These copolymers were synthesized by grafting METAC onto XG and characterized by FE-SEM, EDX, AFM, FTIR, XRD, 13C NMR, DSC, and TGA-DTG techniques. These hydrogels were encapsulated with the anticancer drug dacarbazine. The diffusion of dacarbazine from the hydrogels exhibited a non-Fickian diffusion mechanism, and the release profile was most appropriately explained by a zero-order kinetic model. In addition, network hydrogels illustrated their superabsorbent nature by absorbing about 15 g of fluid per gram of polymer sample. The materials revealed antioxidant activity in the DPPH scavenging method. Findings of the physicochemical, drug delivery, antioxidant and antibacterial properties of copolymers revealed their suitability for use in DD applications.

Keywords

• Bacterial polysaccharide
• Hydrogel
• Drug delivery
• Anticancer