Synthesis of Hydrogels by Modification of Natural Polysaccharides Through Radiation Cross-Linking Polymerization for Use in Drug Delivery

Hydrogels are three-dimensional polymer structures that can captivate and hold a vast quantity of water. They have superior’s properties such as hydrophilicity, high swelling ability, non-toxic in nature, and biocompatibility which makes them prospective materials for various applications. The concept of graft copolymers in biomedical field developed in the past few ten years and lasts to fascinate researchers working in this sector. Research in this sector is ongoing with the aim of alteration of the inherent properties of polysaccharides after grafting, which offers premises to be pervasive in integrated systems with multiple functionalities or the enhanced properties of one domain. This chapter aims to give comprehensive details about research that have been made on radiation-induced synthesis of polysaccharide-based hydrogels in context to biomedical application. This review also intends to explain the mechanism of radiation-induced synthesis of hydrogels. The effect of various radiation sources such as gamma, microwave, electron, and heavy ions is also discussed. Also, current status and plans of hydrogels are presented along with proper citations extracted from the scientific literature. Moreover, this article provides you with essential information that one’s need to start work in this area.