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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Owing to their potential beneficial effects on human health, polyphenols (e.g. resveratrol,
polydatin, catechin, etc) have been considered in many research works and also for
applications in pharmaceutic, biomedical, cosmetic or food industries. The development of
carriers allowing to stabilize and protect polyphenols from degradation, thus preserving
biological activity and enlarging their bioavailability, is a key issue to achieve the effective
benefits of such compounds. On other hand, the use of cellulose materials in many application
fields (including the aforementioned industrial areas) is also nowadays an important theme
due to the abundance, sustainability and biocompatibility of this natural polymer. Supercritical
fluid technology, namely with carbon dioxide, often avoids the use unwanted organic solvents
(enabling a more “green” approach) and combines good solubility conditions (associated to
liquids) with high diffusion rates (intrinsic to gases). These issues are especially relevant for
the transport of high size molecules (as many polyphenols) in complex matrices (such
cellulose polymers). Our research combines these three working lines through the synthesis
of cellulose-based hydrogels, the supercritical CO2 uploading of polyphenols in the produced
materials and the posterior assessment of their liberation for controlled-release purposes (see
Figure 1). Chemical crosslinking of cellulose with epichlorohydrin is used to prepare the
cellulose-based hydrogels and physically crosslinked alginate hydrogels are considered for
comparison purposes. Amphiphilic materials are also synthesized through esterification of
OH-groups with a RAFT agent, followed by grafting of synthetic polymer chains. We show that
tailored controlled-release vehicles can be obtained by designing the synthesis conditions.
Description
Keywords
Polyphenols Cellulose hydrogels Alginate hydrogels Supercritical CO2 Controlled-release
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Gomes, Catarina; Dias, Rolando, Costa, Mário Rui (2017). Supercritical CO2 uploading and controlled-release of polyphenols in cellulose-based hydrogels. In V Encontro de Jovens Investigadores do Instituto Politécnico de Bragança. Instituto Politécnico de Bragança
Publisher
IPB