Hemicellulose-Based Hydrogels And Their Potential Application

The hydrogels obtained from renewable resources have aroused great interests because they are nontoxic, economical, biodegradable, and biocompatible. Hemicellulose is the second most abundant polysaccharides after cellulose in lignocellulosic biomass. In recent years, hemicellulose-based hydrogels as biomaterials have received ever-increasing attention and they have a wide range of the promising applications in drug delivery and release, waste treatment, dye adsorption, and tissue engineering because of their peculiar physicochemical properties. This paper described the structure of hemicellulose in plant and its physical-chemical prosperities, and summarized the type of hemicellulose-based hydrogels and their potential application, which provide useful information for the utilization of hemicellulose polymers.