Grafting Derivate From Alginate

Alginate is distributed from cell wall and refined from brown seaweeds, which has been extensively investigated and applied due to its biological properties and low costs. The hydroxyl and carboxyl groups, which are located on β-. d-mannuronate (M) and α-. l-guluronate (G), provide easy accesses for modification. Alginate is an ideal matrix that could be functionalized for further application in biomedical, food, and environmental fields due to its good mechanical, water uptake, and permeability properties. In the current chapter, we want to introduce the progress on various graft derivates of alginate, including the method of modification, specific structures, properties, and application. The grafting derivate of alginate, including acrylic acid derivatives, peptides, macromolecules with specific sensitiveness such as polyvinyl pyrrolidone, and amphiphilic molecules like octyl amide, would be introduced. By the way, the recent advance for the application of the derivate of alginate in different fields, including drug delivery, tissue engineering, and environmental treatment etc., are discussed correspondingly.