Preparation And Characterization Of Bilayer Chitosan Membrane

Chitosan (CS) is a natural polymer, which has good biocompatibility and wide applications in the field of tissue engineering. The aim of this article is to prepare a kind of chitosan bilayer membranes that have good biocompatibility and can prevent cells from growing into the membranes. The chitosan bilayer membranes were prepared by the way of thermally induced phase separation (TIPS), using glutaraldehyde as crosslinking agent. By changing the pre-freezing temperature, the pore size of the membranes can be regulated, so cells'ability to grow into the membranes can be controlled. Chemical structures of the membranes before and after crosslinking were charcaterized via IR and the morphology of the membrances were observed via SEM. Porosity rate, hydrophilicity and mechnical properities of the membrances were also investigated. Besides, the degradation behaviours of the membrances in PBS containing lysozyme were researched in detail. The results show that the membranes have appropriate porosity rate, good hydrophilicity and mechanical properities. The weight loss of the membranes were about 7% after 12 weeks of degradation.Biocompatibility is one of the most important performances of the biomaterials. 3T3 fibroblasts were cultured on the chitosan bilayer membranes. MTT assay show that the 3T3 fibroblasts can adhere and proliferate well on the membranes. SEM results show that cells were not be found inside of the membranes after 4 days. So the chitosan bilayer membranes can be expected to be used as barrier membranes in tissue engineering.