3.1.2. Study of water uptake ability of CAH
To evaluate the appropriateness of CAH for this biomedical application, its swelling behavior was studied (Fig. S1). The obtained results demonstrated that the high water uptake capac- ity of CAH after 12 h, caused an increase in the pore diameter of the polymeric mesh and subsequent diffusion of nutrients, cells, bioactive molecules and waste along hydrogel. Such swelling behavior can be explained by the presence of hydrophilic groups, such as hydroxyl, amino and carboxyl groups that can be easily hydrated, both in chitosan and agarose