Abstract—Sponges were prepared from lactic acid-grafted chitosan (LCH) and hyaluronate (HA) to develop potential materials for wound dressing. Sponges with different microstructures can be obtained in a vertical temperature-controlled device and in an aluminum vessel. The morphology and permeability properties, including porosity, water permeability, gas permeability, water adsorption and in vitro biodegradation of two types of sponges were compared in detail. Sponges with microtubule-oriented structure can be obtained in a vertical temperature-controlled device with TBA (tertiary butyl alcohol). These sponges exhibited an applicable water permeation rate of 577 g∙m^–2∙day^–1 and higher air permeability tensor of 3 × 10^–12. The sponges with random micropores can be prepared in an aluminum vessel. These sponges exhibited a water permeation rate and an air permeability tensor of 452 g∙m^–2∙day^–1 and 1.8 × 10^–14 g∙m^–2∙day^–1, respectively. These results also indicated that TBA greatly affected the microstructure of the resulting sponges. A parallel orientation of the pore structure resulted in higher porosity and higher water adsorption capacity than random pores. After lactic acid was grafted, the crystallinity of chitosan decreased and water solubility increased, causing rapid lysozymatic degradation of chitosan lactate-HA sponges. The resulting sponges exhibited high water content, gas permeability and appropriate water permeation; such sponges could easily be applied and removed. These properties indicated that these materials are highly applicable as wound dressing.

Index Terms—Chitosan lactate, hyaluronate, sponge.

C. Lai is with the Shenzhen key laboratory of human tissue regeneration and repair, Shenzhen institute, Peking University, Shenzhen 518057, China (e-mail: laichen1110@msn.com).

 

Cite: Chen Lai, "Preparation Chitosan Lactate-Hyaluronate Sponges with Unidirectional Porous Structure and Their Potential Use as Wound Dressings," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 71-77, 2014.