Influence of acetylation on in vitro chitosan membrane biomineralization

In a previous work of this research group, we studied the in vitro calcification of dense and porous chitosan membranes. Chemical modifications had been promoted, but further investigations were needed to better understand the role of some chemical groups in the process of calcification. In the present study, we proposed the acetylation of the already-molded chitosan membranes, producing a "pseudo-chitin", to be used in calcification. The acetylated chitosan was submitted to mineralization by soaking the membranes in simulated body fluids (SBF) with 1x and 1.5x the concentration of ions found in human serum, for 7 days at 36.5degreesC. Morphological characterization was performed using SEM and compositional analyses were done using SEM-EDX and FTIR-ATR techniques. The results showed that acetyl groups induce calcification, forming deposits that present a Ca:P ratio different of those formed on pristine chitosan.