Patrick Laurén, 2018
Abstract
"Hydrogels are emerging as an important source for current biomaterial design, as they often possess intrinsic physical and mechanical similarities with soft tissue, are non-toxic and biocompatible. However, many hydrogel-based biomimetic materials are either derived from limited sources, or require external activators to achieve functionality, such as chemical crosslinking or environmental cues. Furthermore, many cross-linkers used with hydrogels are toxic, and environmental cues invoke slow responses. Therefore, to function as a rational biomaterial design for a biomedical application, these properties are preferably avoided, or improved with a composite system containing two or more polymer components to overcome these limitations. Plant-derived nanofibrillar cellulose (NFC) possesses the same intrinsic properties as many other hydrogels derived from the components of extracellular matrices (ECM). Therefore, NFC shares the biocompatibility and non-toxicity aspects of biomimetic materials. However, additional features of NFC can be exploited, such as shear-thinning properties, spontaneous self-gelation and chemical modification capabilities. Additionally, the source of NFC is practically inexhaustible, and is environmentally biodegradable, bearing no ecological burden. Therefore, when designing hydrogel-based biomaterials, NFC offers versatility, which enables the fabrication of potential biomedical applications for various purposes in an environmentally safe way. In this thesis, a wide range of potential applications of NFC-based hydrogels were investigated. These include 3D cell culturing, in vivo implantation and coating systems for drug and cell delivery, controlled drug delivery and local delivery as a bioadhesive system. These methods offer insight into the versatility of NFC-based hydrogels, which could improve the future design of biomaterials, for a safer and more efficient use in biomedical applications."
Patrick Laurén, Biomedical applications of nanofibrillar cellulose, University of Helsinki, Finland, 2018.