earticle

영어

Owing to their biodegradability, biocompatibility and low toxicity, various biomaterials using chitosan and their derivatives have been developed, especially in biomedical applications [1, 2]. Among these, hollow spheres have attracted increasing interest as drug delivery systems since they enable high loading of hydrophilic, hydrophobic or even solid-type drugs [3]. The formation of hollow microspheres generally involves the use of organic solvent and high temperature or high pressure, which is harmful to the biological environment. In the present study, chitosan hollow hydrogels were simply prepared by ionotropic gelation of chitosan with sodium tripolyphosphate. The fabrication process and major parameters were discussed and optimized. The morphological characteristics and formation mechanisms were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and paraffin section analysis. The results revealed that the microspheres exhibited a very smooth and hollow structure. Also, the formation of the hollow inside microspheres could be controlled by varying fabrication conditions including types of chitosan, concentrations and pH of sodium tripolyphosphate. This method of production of hollow spheres can be considered a simple, fast but effective preparation procedure of hollow hydrogel-based devices in biomedical applications.