ABSTRACT
Alginates are mostly available in the form of sodium salts products of alginic acid and they represent one of the most abundant families of the natural anionic polysaccharides. Natural materials are among most desirable ones for biomedical applications due to their favorable properties although some synthetic polymers, alloys, and ceramic materials are widely used too, especially in cases where biomaterials lack some needed performances. Among alginate’s properties, biocompatibility is a critical issue for their use in biomedical applications, especially for the long-term functioning on multiple therapeutic systems. Gel formation may be the most useful of alginates, while the most preferable feature connected to the gelling is that three-dimensional gels are formed under very mild conditions. Alginate solutions and gel viscosities are among their most important properties. Stability of solid alginates is related to their degree of polymerization, while their depolymerization depends on alginate grades.
