Properties of the composite membrane of chitosan/nanometer multilayer hydroxyapatite/gelatin

Xianghong PENG; Kun WAN

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

Chitosan and gelatin have good biocompatibility and biodegradable properties.More and more attentions have been given to the application of the composite membrane of chitosan/hydroxyapatite(HA)and gelatin/HA as the tissue scaffolds.

OBJECTIVE:

To prepare a biocompatible composite membrane of chitosan/HA/gelatin having nanometer multilayer HA,and to investigate whether such a membrane might be a candidate of the tissue scaffolds for the bond repair and regeneration,

DESIGN:

Controlled observation.

SETTING:

College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering,Jianghan UniversityMATERIALSThe experiments were performed at the Laboratory of Fine Chemistry,College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering,Jianghan University from February to August 2007.Chitosan (Yuhnan Ocean Biochemistry Co.,Ltd,Zhengjiang,China,Mw 13.44×104,93% degree of deacetylation),and gelation(provided by Shanghai Chemical Reagent Co.,Shanghai,China)were used in the present study.

METHODS:

The mixture chitosan/CaCl2 solution was casted on a glass plate to give the membrane of chitosan/CaCl2.Then,the membrane was soaked in KH2PO4 solution,0.1 mol/L NaOH solution,and 3 wt% gelatin aqueous solution,respectively.The resulted membrane was washed and dried to obtain the chtiosan/HA/gelatin composite membrane.The morphological observation of the composite membrane and HA crystal were carded on a scanning electron microscope.The mechanical properties of the composite membrane were measured using the universal testing machine.The tensile strength(σb)and the elongation at break (ε)were calculated.The thermal stability of composite membrane was determined using a WCT-2C thermobalance.MAIN OUTCOME

MEASURES:

The morphologies,the mechanical properties,and the thermal stability of the composite membrane and HA crystal were observed.

RESULTS:

The multilayer HA crystal with 400 nm thickness in the composite membrane was observed.The tensile strength(σb)and the elongation at break(ε)of the composite membrane were 3.83-10.25 MPa and 3.97%-10.14%,respectively.The decomposition temperature of HA-treated membrane was 310℃,which was higher than that of chitosan/gelatin membrane(305℃).

CONCLUSION:

The composite chitosan/HA/gelatin membrane was prepared by using chitosan/CaCl2,KH2PO4 and gelatin solutions.Such a biocompatible composite membrane with multilayer HA might be a promising tissue scaffold.