Chitosan membranes containing micro or nano-size bioactive glass particles: Evolution of biomineralization followed by in situ dynamic mechanical analysis

Sofia G. Caridade, Esther G. Merino, Natália M. Alves, Verónica de Zea Bermudez, Aldo R. Boccaccini, João F. Mano*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

108 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A new family of biodegradable polymer/bioactive glass (BG) composite materials has emerged based on the availability of nano-sized bioactive particles. Such novel biocomposites can have enhanced performance, in terms of mechanical properties and bioactivity, and they can be designed to be used in bone regeneration approaches.In this work, membranes of chitosan (CTS) and chitosan with bioactive glass (BG) both micron and nano sized particles (CTS/μBG, CTS/nBG, respectively) were prepared by solvent casting. Microstructural and mechanical properties were evaluated in order to compare the effects of the incorporation of micro (μBG) and nano (nBG) particles in the chitosan matrix. In vitro bioactivity tests were performed to characterize the apatite layer that is formed on the surface of the material after being immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF). The biomineralization process on the biomaterials was also followed using non-conventional dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), both online and offline. In such DMA experiments, the change in the storage modulus, E', and the loss factor, tan δ, were measured as a function of the immersion time in SBF. The results demonstrated that CTS/nBG membranes possess enhanced mechanical properties and higher bioactivity in comparison with the CTS/μBG membranes. Such results suggest the potential of nBG for the development of bioactive composites for bone regeneration applications.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)173-183
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials
Volume20
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bioactive glass
  • Bioactivity
  • Bone regeneration
  • Dynamic mechanical analysis
  • Nanocomposites

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