The present invention includes a hydrogel and a method of making a porous hydrogel by preparing an aqueous mixture of an uncrosslinked polymer and a crystallizable molecule; casting the mixture into a vessel; allowing the cast mixture to dry to form an amorphous hydrogel film; seeding the cast mixture with a seed crystal of the crystallizable molecule; growing the crystallizable molecule into a crystal structure within the uncrosslinked polymer; crosslinking the polymer around the crystal structure under conditions in which the crystal structure within the crosslinked polymer is maintained; and dissolving the crystals within the crosslinked polymer to form the porous hydrogel.

Starch spherulites are produced by debranching of amylopectin-containing starch into short linear -1,4-linked glucans (e.g., short-chain amylose, SCA). The debranched linear glucans are directly converted into spherulites by heating the debranched starch mixture followed by cooling and crystallization to form well-developed spherulites. The spherulites exhibit controlled enzyme digestibility.

The invention relates to the preparation and the use of ,-unsaturated aldehydes in the structure of sulfated polysaccharides. It concerns the derivatives with a conjugated double bond in the 4th and 5th positions of the galactopyranose part situated in the 6th position with respect to the aldehyde, according to the general structural formula (I) or its hydrated form according to the general structural formula (II). The preparation of these derivatives derives from sulfated polysaccharides containing a galactopyranose ring sulfated in the 4th position that is bound in the polymer chain via (1.fwdarw.3) or (1.fwdarw.3) O-glycosidic bond. In the described solution, the sulfated polysaccharides undergo a regio- and chemoselective oxidation to form C6-saturated aldehyde, which, via a direct elimination of the sulfate group, provides the ,-unsaturated derivative according to the general formula (I) or (II). The described solution is technically advantageous, because it leads directly to ,-unsaturated aldehydes, without any elimination agents, higher temperature, or isolation of intermediates during the synthesis. The conjugation in the structure of ,-unsaturated aldehyde allows, under physiological conditions, to bind a wide variety of biocompatible amines in the structure of the sulfated polysaccharides. The proposed method allows to prepare materials suitable for pH-responsive drug delivery systems, or for the preparation of scaffolds in tissue engineering or regenerative medicine. Formulae for the abstract (I), (II) above, where R is OH, OSO.sub.2OH, OSO.sub.2ONa, or NHAc. ##STR00001##

This disclosure presents a well fracturing pad fluid, having a gelling agent; one or more buffering agents; a viscosity breaker; a biocide; a nonionic alkyl glycoside; and water, is present in the range from about 90% to about 99.9% by volume of the well fracturing pad fluid and methods of use.

The invention relates to an aqueous binder composition comprising a carbohydrate component, possibly a crosslinker and possibly reaction product of carbohydrate component with crosslinker, further comprising a phenalkamine. The invention further discloses binders obtained therefrom and composite products manufactured therewith.

The present disclosure encompasses biocompatible hydrogel compositions comprising covalently bonded hydrogel reaction products, as well as compositions of, methods of producing, methods of using, and kits comprising the covalently cross-linked hydrogel reaction products. The covalently cross-linked hydrogel reaction products can be derived from a cross-linking reaction of a polyquaternium-10, a chondroitin 4-sulfate, and a divinylsulfone.

The present invention relates to a novel stable colloidal polysaccharide suspension containing ?(1.fwdarw.3)-glucan, a cost-effective method for its preparation, and possible uses of these polysaccharide suspensions.

Carrageenan-based compositions containing a carrageenan, a starch, a plasticizer, water, and an optional buffer are disclosed, in which the carrageenan has both a potassium content of less than 4 wt. % and a viscosity configured to produce capsules on pressure-free rotary die equipment. Films and capsules can be formed from the carrageenan-based compositions.

Provided is a gel composition including a partial degradation product of the galactose moiety of galactoxyloglucan, a compound that is a mixture of one kind or two or more kinds selected from magnesium salt, calcium salt, aluminum salt, and sodium salt, and an aqueous solvent.

Compositions are disclosed herein comprising a graft copolymer that comprises: (i) a backbone comprising dextran that has been modified with about 1%-25% alpha-1,2 branches, and (ii) one or more alpha-1,3-glucan side chains comprising at least about 50% alpha-1,3 glycosidic linkages. Further disclosed are reactions for producing such graft copolymers, as well as their use in derivatives, films and various other applications.