Controlled gelation temperature, pore diameter and degradation of a highly porous chitosan-based hydrogel

In this study, highly porous chitosan-alpha,beta-glycerophosphate hydrogels were prepared by changing the chitosan/alpha,beta-glycerophosphate ratio. The gelation temperatures of these gels determined from rheological analysis indicated that the gelation temperature decreased by increasing alpha,beta-glycerophosphate content. The chemical structures and morphology of the hydrogels were examined by FTIR and SEM, respectively. The SEM images showed a highly porous 3D chitosan-alpha,beta-glycerophosphate hydrogel structure with interconnected pores and the pore diameters depended on the chitosan/alpha,beta-glycerophosphate ratio. The swelling and degradation experiments indicated that the degradation behaviors of these hydrogels via bulk erosion relied heavily on the chitosan/alpha,beta-glycerophosphate ratio. This study suggested that the gelation temperature, pore diameter and degradation behaviors of chitosan-based porous hydrogels can be controlled by changing the ratio of chitosan and alpha,beta-glycerophosphate. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.