Effects of nanoliposomes based on soya, rapeseed and fish lecithins on chitosan thin films designed for tissue engineering

This work addresses the preparation of chitosan thin films functionalized in volume by nanoliposomes based on plant and marine lecithins, and then characterizes their properties by various physicochemical techniques. Firstly, the main fatty acid compositions of lecithins was analyzed by gas chromatography, secondly the stability of nanoliposomes and nanoliposomes/chitosan blends was determined by zetasizer, tensiometer, Transmission Electron Microscopy and rheometer. Finally, different properties of chitosan and the nanoliposomes/chitosan blend thin films were characterized by water contact angle, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Dynamic-Mechanical Thermal Analysis, Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering and Scanning Probe Microscopy in HarmoniX (TM) mode. From these experiments, the influences of nanoliposomes on thin films wettability, morphology, viscosity, mechanical properties and structural alteration were determined. The addition of nanoliposomes to chitosan and resulting nanoliposomes/chitosan blend thin films provides greater possibility of producing new materials for potential tissue engineering application. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.