Synthesis and characterization of silica-chitosan porous hybrids for tissue engineering

A variety of types of organic polymers have been employed in the synthesis of hybrids with silica. In this work the sol-gel method was used for preparation of macroporous 3D hybrid scaffolds based on silica and chitosan in various compositions (10, 20 and 30% wt). The hybrids were analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (DRX) and Infra-red Spectroscopy (FTIR) and the effect of addition of the polymer was evaluated. The foams obtained by sol-gel process were appropriate to produce hybrids based on chitosan-silica and showed large pore size distribution and porosity, except for hybrids with higher polymer content. The FTIR spectroscopy showed a band relative to Si-O-C bond that was also found to increase with the increasing the amounts of chitosan in the hybrid. This fact can suggest an interaction between the organic-inorganic phases in the material and provide new insights on the advantages of chitosan-silica hybrid materials produced via sol-gel methodology.