Scaffold of chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) blend chemically crosslinked by glutaraldehyde for tissue engineering applications

Chitosan/PVA based films were chemically crosslinked by glutaraldehyde (GA) in order to achieve scaffolds for potential tissue engineering application. Both precursors and developed films were characterized by FTIR and XRD in order to determine the presence of chemicals groups and nanostructural order, respectively. The results have showed that the GA crosslinking have altered the crystallinity of the chitosan and the increase on the C=N bands and decreasing of NH2 bands suggest that Chitosan/GA crosslinking has preference to occur in the carbon 2 by Schiff's base. The mechanical properties, swelling behavior, degradation rate in vitro and cellular viability were compatible with the characteristic of an epithelial tissue. The material presented a toughness range from 1.4 to 34MJ/m3, swelling from 150% to 700% in 24h, degradation rate from 20% to 75% (wt%) in 24h and cellular viability in vitro above 60% compared to the cellular control. The developed scaffolds from the films have also showed swelling and degradation in vitro properties well-matched for biomedical applications in tissue engineering (author)