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Abstract
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Owing to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and cell adhesion properties, polysaccharide-based hydrogels have been widely investigated in the biomedical fields such as tissue engineering and drug delivery systems. However, some disadvantages such as their weak stability and burst release of drugs limit the use of pristine polysaccharide-based hydrogels in the biomedical field [1]. Due to the synergetic effects of polysaccharides and inorganic ingredients, introducing nano-sized inorganic materials provide excellent physicochemical properties creating bionanocomposite hydrogels with potential applications in the above mentioned fields [1,2]. A range of hydrogel nanocomposite networks can be created by a combination of polysaccharide/inorganic nanoparticles including chitosan, alginate, κ-carrageenan, starch, and cellulose derivatives have been studied [[3], [4], [5], [6], [7]]. Among polysaccharides, chitosan (CS), a linear natural polysaccharide obtained from deacetylation of chitin, is helpful candidate for designing drug carriers due to its good biocompatibility and low toxicity [8,9]. The existence of primary amine groups on chitosan backbone enables it in the preparation of pH-responsive carriers [10]. In the use of pristine chitosan networks as drug carriers, a rapid and burst release of active agents often occurs. To design chitosan-based carriers with sustained release behavior introducing inorganic nanoparticles is proposed. By introducing rectorite (a synthetic silicate nanoclay) the burst release of bovine serum albumin from chitosan/alginate matrix has been avoided [11]. The release of doxorubicin anticancer drug from chitosan and chitosan/montmorillonite networks has also been investigated. While a burst and fast drug release for pristine chitosan network has been observed, a slow and extended release of doxorubicin from chitosan/montmorillonite is a more preferred method [12]. The release of doxorubicin from folate-conjugated trimethyl chitosan/g
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