Mechanical property, chitosan

Nontoxic and noncorrosive solvent systems can be used when chitosan is considered instead of chitin for the manufacture of fibers. Improvements of the fiber quality rely mostly on technical shrewdness for instance the use of potassium hydrogen phthalate at pH 4-5 imparted better mechanical properties [255]. 

In their further studies on chitosan for biomedical applications, Lee et al. [133] reported a procedure for preparing semi-IPN polymer network hydrogels composed of (3-chitosan and PEG diacrylate macromer, by following a similar procedure to that discussed above. The crystallinity as well as thermal and mechanical properties of gels were reported [133]. Reports on the drug release behavior of the gels are not available. 

Cervera ME, Heinamaki J, Krogars K, et al. Solid state and mechanical properties of aqueous chitosan-amylose starch films plasticized with polyols. AAPS Pharm Set Tech 2004 5(1) E15. 

Chen F et al (2009) Biocompatibility, alignment degree and mechanical properties of an electrospun chitosan-P(LLA-CL) fibrous scaffold. J Biomater Sci Polym Ed 20(14) 2117-2128... 

Chitosan can form 3D scaffold that are too weak to be useful in tissue engineering. Hence, inclusion in the chitosan matrix and/or grafting onto chitosan of other substances such as collagen, other biopolymers, or hydroxyapatite has been achieved to improve the mechanical properties of the scaffold and to mimic the nanostructure of the tissue for a better cell adhesion/infiltration and/or to provide thermosensitivity for in situ gelation. 

The physical and mechanical properties of chitosan can be amefiorated by using graft copolymerization and crosslinking. Chitosan forms aldimines and ketimines with aldehydes and ketones, respectively. Upon hydrogenation with simple aldehydes, chitosan produces A-alkyl chitosan [60]. The physicochemical and biological properties [61] as well as conformational structures [62] of chitosan are very effective for biomedical applications. 

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