New polysaccharide-based microparticles crosslinked with siloxanic units. I. Synthesis and characterization

The paper describes a new way of obtaining crosslinked pullulan and carboxymethylpullulan microparticles using 3-(glycidoxypropyl)trimethoxysilane, which forms crosslinkings both through grafting with epoxy end on the OH polysaccharide, and through hydrolysis and condensation of the methoxy silane groups at the other end. Electronic microscopy analysis showed that the microparticles' porosity depends on the amount of crosslinking agent used; the variation of porosity was evidenced also through the absorption of PEG of various molecular weights. Further studies on the interaction with biological active substances are in development with the objective of finding some potential biomedical applications of theirs.