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Lookup NU author(s): Meng Pan, Dr Oana Bretcanu, Professor Katarina NovakovicORCiD
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The development of inorganic-organic composite materials, able to mimick natural bone structure and exhibit biodegradable properties, have garnered significant attention due to unmet need for natural grafts. This study focuses on chitosan-based hydrogel composite materials, utilizing genipin as a cross-linking agent and incorporating apatite wollastonite (AW) powder as an inorganic phase. Chitosan is selected for its biocompatibility, ability to form porous scaffold structures and subsequently biodegradation; while AW is selected for its bone-line forming abilities. However, when AW is combined with chitosan solution, it was found that it increases the solution’s pH, impeding the complete dissolution of chitosan. To address this, the study demonstrates use of buffered solutions, constant in pH value and varying in ionic strengths, achieving the complete dissolution of chitosan. Following, the study investigates chitosan-AW scaffolds with the aim to evaluate effect different ionic strengths of buffers have on their properties. Methods employed included dynamic studies of chitosan-AW interaction during scaffold formation process using fluorescence intensity (FI) measurements, gelation time studies employing rheological tests, and material strength evaluation using compression tests. Results indicate that the addition of AW significantly shortens the gelation time. Furthermore, ionic strength is shown to affect gelation time, offering the opportunity for further optimisation of obtained materials. Chitosan-genipin hydrogels (without AW) display an inverse relationship between gelation time and ionic strength. FI measurements, primarily focusing on the reaction of genipin and chitosan amino groups, shown significant increase in FI in the presence of AW, which was in agreement with reduced gelation time observed in materials containing AW. Interestingly, the significant effect on gelation time and FI did not translate to significant change in mechanical strengths measured. Collectively, results provide new direction for further optimisation studies of inorganic-organic composite materials where in addition to commonly varied concentration of components, ionic strength of biomaterial solution can be used as a parameter, in particular relevant for injectable formulations where gelation time is crucial for the performance.
Author(s): Pan M, Bretcanu O, Xie F, Deehan D, Novakovic K
Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
Publication status: Published
Conference Name: 12th World Biomaterials Congress
Year of Conference: 2024
Print publication date: 26/05/2024
Online publication date: 26/05/2024
Acceptance date: 04/03/2024
URL: https://www.wbc2024.com/
