A review of polysaccharide-based hydrogels: From structural modification to biomedical applications

Hydrogels prepared from natural polysaccharide possess excellent biocompatibility and adjustable physical properties similar to those of natural extracellular matrices, and have thus been extensively utilized in the biomedical field. However, natural polysaccharide hydrogels have limited applications owing to their performance deficiencies. For instance, poor mechanical properties restrict their application in tissue engineering, while instability hinders their adaptation to complex and dynamic physiological environments. The chemical modification of polysaccharides and their combination with other matrix materials, such as proteins, synthetic polymers, and inorganic materials, to form hybrid hydrogels have been utilized to enhance the properties of polysaccharide-based hydrogels for diverse applications. This paper reviews comprehensively and systematically the methods of natural polysaccharide modification and describes in detail the various types of polysaccharide-based hydrogels. Additionally, the applications of these hydrogels in drug delivery, wound dressings, tissue engineering and biosensing are summarized. Finally, the challenges and future directions for the application of polysaccharide-based hydrogels are envisioned to provide a reference for the design of novel multifunctional hydrogels.