Preparation and characterization of chitosan based injectable hydrogels enhanced by chitin nano-whiskers.
The objective of current study was to prepare an injectable hydrogel with great mechanical properties and biological compatibility, which could be more suitable to be applied as tissue engineering scaffold. Chitin nano-whiskers (CNWs) were introduced into chitosan/β-glycerophosphate disodium salt (CS/GP) injectable hydrogel. The effects of CNWs contents and gelation temperatures on gelation speed and mechanical properties of the composite hydrogels were characterized and discussed. The maximum values of tensile strength and elongation at break were both more than 4 times larger than that of neat CS/GP hydrogel. The gelation time of injectable hydrogel with 5% CNWs content (formed at 37°C) was 25 seconds, which was much shorter than that (6038 seconds) of the neat CS/GP hydrogel. In combination with results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), it was proved that CNWs functioned as a cross-linker through hydrogen bond interaction in the gel formation process, which might be the main reason for mechanical enhancement. Meanwhile, gels formed with higher CNWs content and gelation temperature had lower equilibrium swelling ratio and drug release rate. Cytotoxicity of hydrogel in vitro was studied by MTT method with a result of indicating a good biocompatibility of CNWs enhanced hydrogel.
State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, PR China.
Qianqian
Q
Wang
State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, PR China.
Siyu
S
Chen
State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, PR China. Electronic address: cdj@dhu.edu.cn.
Dajun
D
Chen
D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D020100:Hydrogels; D002686:Chitin; D048271:Chitosan
Chitin nano-whiskers; Hydrogen bonding interaction; Injectable hydrogel; Mechanical property