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Thermal behavior of water in micro-particles based on alginate gel

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Abstract

Alginate has been established as a very versatile material in the preparation of hydrogel capsules for trapping therapeutic biomolecules and cells. The physico-chemical properties, the mechanism and the processing of gel formation are now well established. In the frame of a project aiming at the exploitation of encapsulation of therapeutic proteins in alginate gel particles, the procedure of preparation, characterization, gel-drying and re-hydrating has been explored for the shelf-life of the encapsulated biomolecules. Here, the results of a calorimetric study on the freezing and dehydration process of alginate micro-capsules is presented. The work aims at the description of water state(s) and its removal under “controlled conditions” in the presence of bioprotectant sugars.

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Acknowledgements

The present results have been achieved in part within the EU Project FP6 NanoBioPharmaceutics (NMP 026723-2). M.B. is recipient of a University Grant from University of Trieste (Progetto Giovani Ricercatori 2007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry, Life Sciences Department, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy

    Barbara Bellich, Massimiliano Borgogna, Damiano Carnio & Attilio Cesàro

Authors
  1. Barbara Bellich
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  2. Massimiliano Borgogna
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  3. Damiano Carnio
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  4. Attilio Cesàro
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Bellich.

Additional information

Barbara Bellich and Massimiliano Borgogna are contributed equally to this paper.

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Bellich, B., Borgogna, M., Carnio, D. et al. Thermal behavior of water in micro-particles based on alginate gel. J Therm Anal Calorim 97, 871–878 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-009-0392-x

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