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ABSTRACT Novel biomaterials are needed for bone tissue repair with improved mechanical performance compared to classical bioceramics. The objective of this work was to characterize a hybrid filler material, which is capable to coat as a thin film porous scaffolds improving their mechanical properties for bone tissue engineering. The hybrid filler material is a blend of chitosan and silica network formed through in situ sol-gel using tetraethylortosilicate and 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) as silica precursors. The hypothesis was that the epoxy ring of GPTMS could react with the amino groups of chitosan in acidic media while it is also reacting the siloxane groups of hydrolyzed silica precursors. The formation of the hybrid organic-inorganic network was assessed by different physical techniques revealing changes in molecular mobility and hydrophilicity upon chemical reaction. Finally, the cytotoxicity of the samples was also evaluated by MTT assay. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015, 53, 1391-1400 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid porous membranes of polycaprolactone (PCL) and silica were obtained by a two stage procedure. First a porous PCL membrane was produced by freeze extraction technique and then a sol-gel reaction was used to form a uniform silica coating on the pore walls. Sol-gel reaction was performed at low pH with tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as the precursor of silica. In this work we analyze the influence of several clue parameters on the silica film formation and in turn on the properties of the hybrid material. Water:TEOS molar ratio and drying protocol were considered in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitosan-silica porous hybrids were prepared by a novel strategy in order to improve the mechanical properties of chitosan (CHT) in the hydrogel state. The inorganic silica phase was introduced by sol-gel reactions in acidic medium inside the pores of already prepared porous scaffolds. In order to make the scaffolds insoluble in acidic media chitosan was cross-linked by genipin (GEN) with an optimum GEN concentration of 3.2 wt.%. Sol-gel reactions took place with Tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) acting as silica precursors. GPTMS served also as a coupling agent between the free amino groups of chitosan and the silica network. The morphology study of the composite revealed that the silica phase appears as a layer covering the chitosan membrane pore walls. The mechanical properties of the hybrids were characterized by means of compressive stress-strain measurements. By immersion in water the hybrids exhibit an increase in elastic modulus up to two orders of magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]