On the physico-chemical and dielectric properties of glutaraldehyde crosslinked galactomannan-collagen films

The effects of galactomannan, a plant polysaccharide widely distributed in nature, on the physicochemical properties of collagen films, were studied using infrared spectroscopy, dielectric spectroscopy, thermal analysis (DSC), swelling and scanning electron microscopy, with possible applications in biomedical, cosmetic and food industry. Infrared bands typical for collagen molecules (amide 1, 11 and 111) and galactomannan structure, present in the spectrum of films with 50% of galactomannan, showed that the gum was retained in the collagen fibers. The integrity of the triple helical structure of collagen was conserved in the mixture. The resulting films crosslinked with increasing amounts of glutaraldehyde (GA), when analysed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), showed that the reaction induced the presence of two structures. which were the result of the heterogeneous reaction of GA. The presence of galactomannan in the collagen films, increased the swelling, and this effect was inconsistent with GA increments. Scanning electron microscopy showed the entanglement of the galactomannan by fibers of collagen. The piezoelectric strain tensor element d(14), the elastic constant s(55), and the dielectric permittivity epsilon(11) as obtained for the glactomannan-collagen film were studied. Resonance measurement of the piezoelectric strain constant d(14) Of galactomannan-collagen film (60%) gives 0.081 pC/N. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.