Titolo della tesi: SYNTHESIS AND DRUG DELIVERY APPLICATIONS OF NATURAL AND SEMI-SYNTHETIC BIOPOLYMERS
Over the last years, the use of biopolymers has gained an increasingly important role in everyday life because of their specific properties, which make them suitable for a wide range of applications. Particularly, there is a growing interest toward the use of biopolymers for applications in the field of tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Based on the above, this research work has been based on the investigation and application of natural and semi-synthetic biopolymers and it has been organised into two sections. The first part will focus on the development of drug delivery systems (DDS) based on polysaccharides. In particular, gellan gum-based oral thin films and polymeric beads and dextran-based cryogel will be developed and evaluated as controlled drug delivery systems. The second section will focus on fine optimization and characterization of chondroitin and gelatin methacrylate derivatives as promising materials for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications.