abstract
Chitosan is a natural polysaccharide widely used in biomedicine, for instance for wound dressing. Hydroxyapatite is a very bioactive calcium phosphate which, if modified with an appropriate element (iron Fe), can also have UV absorbing properties. In this work, we report the study of films of chitosan incorporated with iron-modified hydroxyapatite of natural origin (from cod fish bones); this combination led to an innovative chitosan-based material with excellent and advanced functional properties. The films showed very high UV absorption (Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) value higher than 50). This is the first time that a chitosan-based material has shown such high UV protection properties. The films also showed to be non-cytotoxic, and possessed antimicrobial activity towards both Gram-positive and negative strains. Their mechanical properties, optimised with an experimental design approach, confirmed their potential use as multifunctional wound dressing, capable of reducing bacterial infections and, at the same time, protecting from UV light. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
keywords
CARBOXYMETHYL CHITOSAN; CONTROLLED-RELEASE; NANOPARTICLES; KERATINOCYTE; BIOCOMPOSITE; DESIGN; POWDER; ORIGIN
subject category
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Chemistry; Polymer Science
authors
Cunha, CS; Castro, PJ; Sousa, SC; Pullar, RC; Tobaldi, DM; Piccirillo, C; Pintado, MM
our authors
Rob Pullar
Collaboratoracknowledgements
This work was financially supported by Portuguese government through the project UID/Multi/50016/2013 through the project BioTherapies (Programa Operacional de Desenvolvimento do Norte, No. NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-00012). Clara Piccirillo would like to thank Fondazione con il Sud, to fund the project HApECOrk (no. 2015-0243). Robert Pullar wishes to thank FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal) Grant IF/00681/2015. Thisworkwas partly developed within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, UIDB/50011/2020 & UIDP/50011/2020, financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC and when appropriate co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. David Maria Tobaldi is grateful to Portuguese national funds (OE), through FCT, I.P., in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5, and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19.