Nanohydrogels production

Abstract

[Excerpt] Nanohydrogels can be considered as superabsorbent materials composed of threedimensional crosslinked polymer networks at nanoscale size. These polymeric and highly hydrophilic materials have a high swelling capacity, retaining large amounts of water (the preferential dispersion medium) within a very flexible stable structure, which can resemble a natural tissue (Ahmed 2015). Over the past few years, the interest in the development of nanohydrogel matrices has been growing, particularly in the field of biomedical sciences for drug delivery applications (Dalwadi and Patel 2015). Presently, nanohydrogels prepared from natural and biodegradable polymeric sources—i.e., proteins and polysaccharides—are establishing a strong foothold not only in medicine (e.g., cancer therapy and tissue engineering), but also in other fields of science such as agriculture and food technology, in particular for the development of functional foods, active or smart food packaging systems, and biosensing elements (Akram and Hussain 2017). Protein-based nanohydrogels are drawing huge attention due to their biological value and different possibilities of structural design, which offers an innumerous potential for the encapsulation, association, or biocomplexation with active ingredients. [...]