Ultrasonic compatibilization of polyelectrolyte complex based on polysaccharides for biomedical applications

Abstract

a b s t r a c tIn recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the design of biomaterials for cartilage tissue engineering. This type of materials must meet several requirements. In this study, we apply ultrasound to prepare a compatibilized blend of polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC) based on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and chitosan (CHI), in order to improve stability and mechanical properties through the interpolymer macroradicals coupling produced by sonochemical reaction. We study the kinetic of the sonochemical degradation of each component in order to optimize the experimental conditions for PEC compatibilization. Scaffolds obtained applying this methodology and scaffolds without ultrasound processing were prepared and their morphology (by scanning electron microscopy), polyelectrolyte interactions (by FTIR), stability and mechanical properties were analyzed. The swelling kinetics was studied and interpreted based on the structural differences between the two kinds of scaffolds. In addition we evaluate the possible in vitro cytotoxicity of the scaffolds using macrophage cells in culture. Our results demonstrate that the ultrasound is a very efficient methodology to compatibilize PEC, exhibiting improved properties compared with the simple mixture of the two polysaccharides. The test with murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells showed no evince of cytotoxicity, suggesting that PEC biomaterials obtained under ultrasound conditions could be useful in the cartilage tissue engineering field.

Nanobiocomposite based on natural polyelectrolytes for bone regeneration

“…The bands at 1090, 1047, 602, and 570 cm −1 indicated the presence of a PO 4 3− group, as it is reported by several authors (Cox, Thornby, Gibbons, Williams, & Mallick, ; Ooi et al, ; Sharma, Dinda, Potdar, Chou, & Mishra, ). In addition, the spectra of both nBioC showed a band at 1727 cm −1 assignable to stretching vibration of C═O ester group due to covalent bond formed by sonochemistry reaction between both polysaccharides, as it was previously reported (Belluzo et al, ; Hobuss et al, ). The spectra analysis shows no bands shift suggesting that, under our experimental conditions, there are no interactions between nHA and polyelectrolyte complex.…”

“…After we obtain and characterized the nHA, we add it to our biomaterials under ultrasound compatibilization in order to improve the interaction between the components (Belluzo et al, ). First, we ultrasonically dispersed different amounts of nHA into the CHI solution previous dropping the CMC polymer solution.…”

“…The viscosity average molecular weight ( M η ) of both polysaccharides was 258 kDa for CHI and 865 kDa for CMC, evaluated by capillary viscometry as previously reported (Belluzo et al, ).…”

“…In a previous work, we demonstrated that ultrasound compatibilization of anionic and cationic hydrogel biopolymers developed enhanced biomechanical‐relevant properties (i.e., elastic moduli, stability at physiological pH) in comparison with the physical blend, without evidence of cytotoxicity (Belluzo, Medina, Cortizo, & Cortizo, ). Now, we evaluated the addition of hydroxyapatite in to this electrolyte complex with the goal in mind of achieving a physicochemical improved material with a better control of its degradation rate.…”

Preparation of chitosan and carboxymethylcellulose‐based polyelectrolyte complex hydrogel via SD‐A‐SGT method and its adsorption of anionic and cationic dye

“…The distinctive absorption bands at 1650 and 1598 cm −1 were ascribed to the CO stretching in the amide I and NH bending vibration in the NH 2 group of CTS, respectively . Two strong absorption bands at 1601 and 1423 cm −1 were observed in the FT‐IR spectrum of CMC, which were ascribed to the asymmetrical and symmetrical stretching of COO − …”