Abstract:

BACKGROUND: High water content is related to the composition of composite scaffolds. Sodium alginate is a polymer material with high water absorption, and chitosan has hydrophilicity. Therefore, the combination of these two materials has high water content as sodium alginate.
OBJECTIVE: To construct calcium alginate-chitosan composite scaffolds for tissue engineering by mainly using chitosan and sodium alginate.
METHODS: Chitosan and sodium alginate were compounded in various proportions and formed in different ways by orthogonal experiment and single factor experiment methods. The water content and swelling ratio of the composite scaffolds were measured. The histological morphology of the cross-sections of scaffolds was observed by scanning electron microscope.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The water content of the scaffolds was 77.20% for the film-forming method, 75.27% for the freeze-drying method, and 97.13% for particle forming method. These findings suggest that the scaffolds prepared in various ways have different cellular structures. Different forming methods have different influences on scaffold properties. Calcium alginate-chitosan scaffolds have high water content and swelling ratio as well as abundant cellular structures, which can be used as tissue engineering scaffolds.