Mohammad Vahedi - Department of Biomaterials, Faculty of Science, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Tehran, Iran
Jalal Barzin - Department of Biomaterials, Faculty of Science, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Tehran, Iran
Fatemeh Shokrolahi - Department of Biomaterials, Faculty of Science, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Tehran, Iran
Parvin Shokrollahi - Department of Biomaterials, Faculty of Science, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Tehran, Iran

Hydrogels are cross-linked polymeric networks, which have the ability to hold water within the spaces available among the polymeric chains. Hydrogels are usually prepared through covalent or non-covalent linkages between polymer chains. In this study, a hydrogel was prepared by creation of pseudocovalent linkages between chitosan chains and a synthetic bifunctional poly(ethylene glycol). This hydrogel is formed by simply mixing two solutions of chitosan and bifunctional poly(ethylene glycol) followed by vigorous shaking of the mixture. Our results showed that unlike conventional chitosan hydrogels, the hydrogel maintains its structural stability above 40°C, and therefore, can be considered a suitable candidate for application as drug delivery vehicle and tissue engineering scaffold

Hydrogel-Chitosan-PEG-Difunctional Poly(ethylene glycol)-Benzaldehyde