Alginate crosslinking beyond calcium: Unlocking the potential of a range of divalent cations for fiber formation.

Alginate is a promising biopolymer for functional materials' preparation due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and high reactivity with metal cations. This study aims to advance the understanding of the crosslinking dynamics of alginate hydrogels, with the hypothesis of developing a reliable wet spinning method for preparing tunable alginate fibers crosslinked not only with Ca, but also with Sr, Ba, Mn, Cu, Zn. We optimized multiple parameters to successfully produce fibers with consistent cross-sections and lengths of up to several meters.

A bioinspired and sustainable route for the preparation of Ag-crosslinked alginate fibers decorated with silver nanoparticles.

Functional materials obtained through green and sustainable routes are attracting particular attention due to the need to reduce the environmental impact of the chemical industry. In this work we propose a bioinspired approach for the preparation of alginate fibers containing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), to be used for antimicrobial purposes. We demonstrate that filiform polymeric structures with length of a few meters can be easily obtained by extruding an alginate solution in an aqueous Ag-containing bath (i.