Open Access Conference Proceedings

This contribution is focused on study on transport properties of selected probe (Rhodamine 6G) in reactive hydrogels. Hydrogels represent important material either from scientific point of view, as well as from the view of possible applications. In present work, hydrogels based on thermoreversible biopolymer agarose were used. This non-reactive agarose hydrogel matrix can be filled with additional homogeneously distributed molecules (e.g. polyelectrolytes). For these purposes we have selected sodium alginate, hyaluronic acid, carrageenan, sodium polystyrene sulfonate, dextran and chitosan. This type of model reactive hydrogels was used as a medium for subsequent transport experiments. Two types of experimental settings of transport experiments were used in experimental part of this work (both based on diffusion process). The first method was based on the simple macroscopic study on diffusion of Rhodamine 6G from solution into cuvettes containing individual agarose-based reactive hydrogels (diffusion model of constant source). The second used technique was based on Rhodamine 6G self-diffusion measurement (method of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy). Both used methods showed to be valuable for deeper description and characterization of interactions and mobility of selected probe in reactive agarose-based hydrogel matrices. The results are indicating that the transport and barrier properties of individual agarose-based reactive hydrogels are significantly affected by polyelectrolyte charge and its charge density. The results of present work in connection with deep meta-analysis of literature can significantly contribute to further applied research and development in the area hydrogels and carrier materials based on complexes with different biopolymers and polyelectrolytes.

Keywords: diffusion, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, hydrogels, polyelectrolyte, reactivity

© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.