Abstract
Biopolymer-based aerogels are open three-dimensional porous materials that are characterized by outstanding properties, such as a low density, high porosity and high surface area, in addition to their biocompatibility and non-cytotoxicity. Here we fabricated pure and binary blended aerogels from cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) and chitosan (CS), using a chemical-free approach that consists of high-pressure homogenization and freeze-drying. The prepared aerogels showed a different porosity and density, depending on the material and mixing ratio. The porosity and density of the aerogels ranged from 99.1 to 90.8% and from 0.0081 to 0.141 g/cm3, respectively. Pure CNFs aerogel had the highest porosity and lightest density, but it showed poor mechanical properties and a high water absorption capacity. Mixing CS with CNFs significantly enhance the mechanical properties and reduce its water uptake. The two investigated ratios of aerogel blends had superior mechanical and thermal properties over the single-material aerogels, in addition to reduced water uptake and 2-log antibacterial activity. This green fabrication and chemical-free approach could have great potential in the preparation of biopolymeric scaffolds for different biomedical applications, such as tissue-engineering scaffolds.
Highlights
Published: 2 December 2021Aerogels are porous materials of interconnected nanostructures made from numerous materials by replacing the liquid in their suspension/gels with gas [1]
Biopolymers are naturally occurring polymers produced by living cells from animal, plants or microorganisms [2]. They are preferably used in biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility and noncytotoxicity [3,4]
Biopolymers-based aerogels are a type of material that is characterized by a high surface area, low density and light weight [5,6]
Summary
Published: 2 December 2021Aerogels are porous materials of interconnected nanostructures made from numerous materials by replacing the liquid in their suspension/gels with gas [1]. Biopolymers-based aerogels are a type of material that is characterized by a high surface area, low density and light weight [5,6]. Such aerogels, cellulose- and chitosan-based, in particular, have received a remarkable boost in both academic researches and industrial biomedical applications [6,7]. Cellulose- and chitosan-based, in particular, have received a remarkable boost in both academic researches and industrial biomedical applications [6,7] Owing to their unique properties, such as easy scale-up, ecofriendly, non-cytotoxicity and biocompatibility, biopolymers-based aerogels have been used in drug delivery [5], wound healing and dressing [8], biosensing [9] and tissue scaffolding [10]
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