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Kaklamani, Georgia; Cheneler, David; Grover, Liam M.; Adams, Michael J. and Bowen, James
(2014).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2014.04.013
Abstract
Alginate hydrogels are commonly used in biomedical applications such as scaffolds for tissue engineering, drug delivery, and as a medium for cell immobilization. Multivalent cations are often employed to create physical crosslinks between carboxyl and hydroxyl moieties on neighbouring polysaccharide chains, creating hydrogels with a range of mechanical properties. This work describes the manufacture and characterisation of sodium alginate hydrogels using the divalent cations Mg2+, Ca2+ and Sr2+ to promote gelation via non-covalent crosslinks. The gelation time and Young’s modulus are characterised as a function of cation and alginate concentrations. The implications of this work towards the use of environmental elasticity to control stem cell differentiation are discussed.