Alginates: Versatile Polymers in Biomedical Applications and Therapeutics

This new volume explores the latest research on the use of alginate as a biopolymer in various biomedical applications and therapeutics. The uses of alginates and modified alginates discussed in this book include tissue regeneration, encapsulation and delivery of drugs, nucleic acid materials, proteins and peptides, genes, herbal therapeutic agents, nutraceuticals, and more. This book also describes the synthesis and characterizations of various alginate and modified alginate systems, such as hydrogels, gels, composites, nanoparticles, scaffolds, etc., used for the biomedical applications and therapeutics.

Alginate, a biopolymer of natural origin, is of immense interest for its variety of applications in pharmaceuticals (as medical diagnostic aids) and in materials science. It is the one of the most abundant natural biopolymers and is considered an excellent excipient because of its non-toxic, stable, and biodegradable properties. Several research innovations have been made on applications of alginate in drug delivery and biomedicines. There needs to be a thorough understanding of the synthesis, purification, and characterization of alginates and its derivatives for their utility in healthcare fields, and this volume offers an abundance of information toward that end.

Md Saquib Hasnain, PhD, has over six years of research experience in the field of drug delivery and pharmaceutical formulation analyses, especially in systematic development and characterization of diverse nanostructured drug delivery systems, controlled release drug delivery systems, bioenhanced drug delivery systems, nanomaterials and nanocomposites employing Quality by Design approaches as well as development and characterization of polymeric composites, formulation characterization using FTIR, DSC, PXRD, SEM, TEM, HPLC, LC-MS, and many more. He has authored many publications in various journals and book chapters, and has one Indian patent application to his credit. He has also participated and presented his research work at conferences in India and abroad. He is a member of several scientific societies, including the Royal Society of Chemistry, the International Association of Environmental and Analytical Chemistry, and the Swiss Chemical Society.

Amit Kumar Nayak, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Seemanta Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Odisha, India. He has over ten years of research experience in the field of pharmaceutics, especially in the development and characterization of polymeric composites, hydrogels, novel and nanostructured drug delivery systems, formulation characterization using FTIR, DSC, PXRD, SEM, TEM, and HPLC. He has authored over 120 publications in various journals and has many book chapters to his credit. He has been a permanent reviewer of many international journals and has participated and presented his research work at several conferences in India. He is a life member of the Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India.