Thermal Stability and Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Poly(ε-caprolactone)/Chitosan Composite Membranes.

Yanbo Zhang,Gang Zhang,Ming Yang,Yaqi Wu,Haiyan Ju

doi:10.3390/ma14195538

Abstract

Poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and chitosan (CS) are widely used as biodegradable and biocompatible polymers with desirable properties for tissue engineering applications. Composite membranes (CS–PCL) with various blend ratios (CS:PCL, w/w) of 0:100, 5:95, 10:90, 15:85, 20:80, and 100:0 were successfully prepared by lyophilization. The thermal stabilities of the CS–PCL membranes were systematically characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TG), dynamic thermogravimetry (DTG), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was shown that the blend ratio of PCL and CS had a significant effect on the thermal stability, hydrophilicity, and dynamic mechanical viscoelasticity of the CS–PCL membranes. All the samples in the experimental range exhibited high elasticity at low temperature and high viscosity at high temperatures by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). The performances of the CS–PCL membranes were at optimum levels when the blend ratio (w/w) was 10:90. The glass transition temperature of the CS–PCL membranes increased from 64.8 °C to 76.6 °C compared to that of the pure PCL, and the initial thermal decomposition temperature reached 86.7 °C. The crystallinity and porosity went up to 29.97% and 85.61%, respectively, while the tensile strength and elongation at the breakage were 20.036 MPa and 198.72%, respectively. Therefore, the 10:90 (w/w) blend ratio of CS/PCL is recommended to prepare CS–PCL membranes for tissue engineering applications.

Highlights

On the basis of the structural studies, the objectives of this study are to investigate the influence of the blend ratios on the thermal stability and dynamic mechanical properties of CS–PCL membranes, as well as to provide a significant theoretical basis for their further applications in the tissue engineering field
The other reagents used for the preparation of the CS–PCL membranes were of analytical grade
All the above results show that the PCL membranes, especially with the blend ratio of 10:90, retained excellent viscoelasti and mechanical strength when the temperature was up to 56 °C, which is consistent w the results reported in the literature [39]

Summary

Introduction

With the increasing requirements of biomedical materials, the fabrication of polymer composite membranes has recently attracted wide attention and achieved interesting and promising results in various research works. Chitosan (CS), a polysaccharide obtained from N-deacetylation chitin, has been widely used in the fields of daily chemicals, food, and agriculture, especially in tissue engineering scaffolds because of its excellent biodegradability, biocompatibility, and antibacterial capability [1,2,3,4]. CS has numerous reactive groups such as hydroxyls, acetamides, and amines, which can interact with many organic polymers to enhance the CS membrane and improve its properties for use in the tissue engineering scaffold field [14,15]

Objectives

Results

Conclusion