A review on sources, modification techniques, properties and potential applications of alginate-based modified polymers

This review paper deals with the various sources and structure of alginate, and its structural modification techniques. The study focuses on potential applications, particularly in food packaging, drug delivery, tissue engineering, wastewater treatment, and microbial fuel cells. Alginate is a biodegradable, biocompatible, bioactive, less toxic, and cost-effective natural polymer derived from algae, bacteria, and seaweed. The native properties of alginate can be improved by grafting, cross-linking, blending, curing, and various modification and joining techniques. In the modification technique, the active sites on the monomer molecule or backbone of the alginate chain are first created by radiation, enzymes, or other activators, and then these active sites react with each other to form a modified polymer. This review focuses on various grafting modification techniques and potential applications of unified alginate are explained. Grafted alginate has excellent biodegradability, immunological properties, metal binding, metal adsorption, and wound healing ability. This biomaterial has found numerous applications in biomedical science and engineering due to its advantageous properties, including biocompatibility and ease of gelation, as these gels have structural similarities to the extracellular matrix in tissues and can be modified to serve a variety of crucial roles.