Recent Trends and Notable Advances of Alginate-Based Nano-Particles for Effective Biomedical Materials: Wound Healing and Drug Delivery

Alginate is natural biodegradable polymers often used for wound treatments and drug delivery purposes. Due to the structural characteristics, alginate polymers are able to form hydrogel. Alginate nanoparticles are obtained by diverse methodologies and the physical and chemical properties can be affected by production techniques and the molecules incorporated. Alginate possesses unique bioactivities such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, hydrophilicity and nontoxicity, so it has great potential for biomedical applications. Alginate based hydrogels and nanoparticles carrying active compounds are able to supply the optimal environments for wound healing and controlled drug administration including targeted or localized drug-delivery systems. In this review, the recent researches about the alginate and alginate-complex nanoparticles as potential tools for wound dressing membrane and drug delivery carriers are studied.