A method of preparing a hydrogel product including crosslinked glycosaminoglycan molecules, said method including: i) providing a glycosaminoglycan crosslinked by amide bonds, wherein the crosslinked glycosaminoglycans include residual amine groups; and ii) acylating residual amine groups of the crosslinked glycosaminoglycans provided in i) to form acylated crosslinked glycosaminoglycans.

The invention relates to a hydrogel product comprising glycosaminoglycan molecules as the swellable polymer, wherein the glycosaminoglycan molecules are covalently crosslinked via crosslinks comprising a spacer group selected from the group consisting of di-, tri-, tetra-, and oligosaccharides.

An anti-biofouling shape-memory composite aerogel includes a unidirectional chitosan aerogel channel, a plant polyphenol coating, and a polyphenol/iron ion chelate. The plant polyphenol coating is evenly distributed on an inner wall of the unidirectional chitosan aerogel channel, and the polyphenol/iron ion chelate is located at a top end of the unidirectional chitosan aerogel channel. The anti-biofouling chitosan-based composite aerogel has an evaporation rate of 1.96 kg.Math.m.sup.−2.Math.h.sup.−1 at an illumination intensity of 1 kW/m.sup.2. The composite aerogel has shape-memory properties, and can quickly restore its original shape in water after extrusion, thereby accelerating the diffusion of substances to complete the modification of inner channels. In this way, desirable anti-biofouling ability is achieved, and excellent structural stability as well as continuous and efficient photothermal water evaporation are guaranteed in a complex water environment.

Disclosed is a macroporous polymeric hydrogel microsphere that contains polyacrylamide and chitosan. The hydrogel microsphere, having a diameter of 50-250 μm and an average pore size of 1-60 nm, is capable of transporting biomolecules conjugated to it. Also disclosed is a method of fabricating the microsphere based on a micromolding technique utilizing surface tension-induced droplet formation followed by photo-induced polymerization.

Polyhydric polymers may be converted to derivatives thereof by reaction with divinyl sulfone to provide vinyl sulfone substituted polymers, where the polymers may additionally be further derivatized, including crosslinked, and the crosslinked and non-crosslinked derivatives may be used in biomedical and other applications.

The present invention provides a hydrogel platform using, as a substrate, hyaluronic acid (HA) conjugated to a pyrogallol (PG) moiety. The HA-PG conjugate of the present invention can be rapidly crosslinked by two different methods, in each of which an oxidizing agent is used or a pH is adjusted. The hydrogel of the present invention can not only have excellent biocompatibility, but also can have efficiently controlled physical characteristics such as a crosslinking rate, elasticity, and adhesive strength, depending on each crosslinking method. On the basis of such excellent stability and functionality, the hydrogel of the present invention can be used in various fields including drug delivery, biopharmaceutical materials such as a wound healing agent or anti-adhesive agent, medicines, and cosmetic products.

A method of producing an injectable gel product is provided, comprising (a) cross-linking a first glycosaminoglycan (GAG) with a first crosslinking agent to produce a gel, wherein the charging ratio of crosslinking agent to disaccharide unit is below 0.15; (b) preparing particles of the gel; (c) mixing the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) gel particles with a second GAG to provide a mixture; (d) cross-linking the mixture with a second crosslinking agent to obtain cross-linking between the GAGs of the second, outer phase, thereby providing a gel having a first, inner phase of the cross-linked GAG gel particles, embedded in a gel of the second GAG outer phase; and (e) preparing injectable particles, each such particle containing a plurality of the cross-linked GAG gel particles of the first, inner phase. An injectable gel product, an aqueous composition, and a pre-filled syringe as also provided.

The invention relates to a hydrogel product comprising glycosaminoglycan molecules as the swellable polymer, wherein the glycosaminoglycan molecules are covalently crosslinked via crosslinks comprising a spacer group selected from the group consisting of di-, tri-, tetra-, and oligosaccharides.

The invention relates to novel a high-volume swelling hydrogel which comprises a plurality of pores which are defined by an interpenetrating network, and/or a semi-interpenetrating network and/or simple cross-linked arrangement of a plurality of one or more species of hydrophilic polymers, optionally together with one or more biocompatible polymers and optionally together with one or more plasticising agents, characterised in that at least some of the pores are at least partially collapsed and/or flattened, and further characterised in that the interpenetrating network and/or semi-interpenetrating network and/or cross-linked arrangement which defines the collapsed and/or flattened pores is substantially unbroken. The invention also relates to a process for preparing such hydrogels, and to their use as an appetite suppressant.

A new hydrogel made of crosslinked glycosaminoglycans, particularly crosslinked hyaluronic acid, chondroitin or chondroitin sulfate, having reversible linkages using boronic acid or boroxole derivatives leading to new benefits. Glycosaminoglycans that are crosslinked via an alkoxyboronate ester anion formed between a diol portion of a diol-functional moiety grafted to a first glycosaminoglycan and a boronate hemiester grafted to a second glycosaminoglycan.