Preface

Alginates were first used in 1883 by researcher Edward Stanford, and commercial development commenced in 1927. Alginate is a seaweed product that is a polysaccharide or carbohydrate polymer with unique properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, renewability, and lack of toxicity. These properties give alginates potential numerous applications in biomedical science and engineering, agriculture, drug delivery, enzyme immobilization, heavy metal removal from industrial effluents, as functional food ingredients, mineralization of organic pollution, emulsifiers, consistency enhancers, and thickening agents in cosmetic formulas. However, there are certain limitations to the industrial application of alginate. The most important of these limitations is its exponentially increasing cost with growing scale. The global production of alginates has now risen to about 40,000 tonnes per year.

Many books and papers have addressed important aspects of alginates over the years, helping to disseminate knowledge of these polymers. As alginates continue to grow and many new colleagues continue to be interested in alginate applications, a comprehensive book considering the cutting-edge technologies is a worthwhile contribution. This book presents the current knowledge and recent advances in the field of alginates to stimulate further research. It also includes both fundamental principles and practical applications for professionals and beginners.

This book is organized into eight chapters covering information on alginates and their applications. The chapters are as follows:

Chapter 1 "Nanomagnetic Polymeric Absorbent Based on Alginate and Gamma-Maghemite Synthesized In Situ for Wastewater Treatment from Metallurgical Industry"

Chapter 2 "Alginates - A Seaweed Product: Its Properties and Applications"

Chapter 3 "Heavy Metal Removal by Alginate Based Agriculture and Industrial Waste Nanocomposites"

Chapter 4 "Alginate Metal Complexes and Their Application"

Chapter 5 "Algal Alginate in Biotechnology: Biosynthesis and Applications"

Chapter 6 "Alginate-Based Composite and Its Biomedical Applications"

Chapter 7 "Applications of Alginates in the Design and Preparation of Orodispersible Dosage Forms"

Chapter 8 "Curcumin-Alginate Mixed Nanocomposite: An Evolving Therapy for Wound Healing"

We thank all the authors for their valuable contributions. We are also grateful to our families who were extremely supportive during the editing of this book. Finally, we would like to express our appreciation to Author Service Manager Marica Novakovic at IntechOpen for her guidance during the publication of this book.

> **Irem Deniz** Manisa Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey

## **Esra Imamoglu**

Ege University, Izmir, Turkey

Izmir, Turkey

**Tugba Keskin-Gundogdu** Demokrasi University,

Section 1 Applications
