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Alkaline treatments to render starch‐based biodegradable polymers self‐mineralizable
Author(s) -
Leonor I. B.,
Kim H.M.,
Balas F.,
Kawashita M.,
Reis R. L.,
Kokubo T.,
Nakamura T.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.835
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1932-7005
pISSN - 1932-6254
DOI - 10.1002/term.54
Subject(s) - surface modification , polymer , simulated body fluid , chemical engineering , nucleation , sodium hydroxide , biodegradable polymer , spherulite (polymer physics) , apatite , starch , chemistry , vinyl alcohol , materials science , hydrolysis , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , mineralogy , engineering
The present research aims to develop a new route for surface functionalization of biodegradable polymers. The method is based on a wet chemistry modification, resulting in etching and/or hydrolysis in order to increase the amount of polar groups, such as hydroxyl (OH) and carboxylic (COOH) groups on the surface of the polymer. The polymer used as substrate was a corn starch–ethylene vinyl alcohol biodegradable blend (SEVA‐C). For that purpose it was used in two different types of activation: (a) calcium hydroxide solution [Ca(OH) 2 ] and (b) sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH). These treatments lead to the formation carboxylic acid‐rich SEVA‐C surfaces. Then, the samples were soaked in simulated body fluid (SBF) for different time periods of time until 7 days. After 1 day in SBF, the surface of SEVA‐C was fully covered with spherulite particles. As the soaking time increased, the particles increased and coalesced, leading to the formation of a dense and uniform layer. Furthermore, thin‐film X‐ray diffraction confirms that the layer formed on the surface of the polymer was an apatite‐like layer. These results suggest that this rather simple treatment is a good method for surface functionalization and subsequent mineral nucleation and growth on biodegradable polymeric surfaces to be used for bone‐related applications. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.