Adequate oxygen supply to the wound is crucial for successful healing but is limited due to the damaged local vascularization. Oxygen supply was improved by encapsulation of photosynthetically active Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells in alginate hydrogels with added gelatin. The physically cross-linked alginate protects the cells and supplies nutrients, while the gelatine is responsible for attaching the cells to the scaffold. Hydrogels were chosen because they have a porous 3-dimensional structure that can hold large amounts of water and permeate gases.
This master thesis investigates effects of different alginate sterilization methods on the properties of hydrogels, the effect of the addition of gelatin on the rheological properties of 2 % (w/w) alginate hydrogels and the growth of C. reinhardtii cells inside these hydrogels. It also includes studies on the effect of cells on the rheology and the amount of produced oxygen. According to these results, the green algae cells grew to lower concentrations in hydrogels with higher crosslinking densities and at the same time produced the most oxygen.
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