Desenvolvimento de membranas bioabsorvíveis com variado nível de orientação molecular para aplicação como biomaterial.

Abstract

The chitosan is an amino polysaccharide, obtained by the alkaline deacetylation of chitin. Abundant natural polymer, biodegradable and non-toxic, it has been proposed as a biopolymer potentially attractive for several uses, mainly in engineering, biotechnology, medicine and dentistry. However, the use of chitosan membranes with preferential molecular orientation hasn’t been very investigated. In matter, the purpose of this work was to evaluate the properties of chitosan membranes obtained with different levels of molecular orientation. Therefore, intended to evaluate: the biodegradation of the chitosan membranes with varied degree of deacetylation in contact with the lysozyme enzyme; to relate the morphology of the membranes with the molecular orientation; to establish correlations between the molecular orientation and the biodegradation and to identify relationships between the surface tension and the molecular orientation in the researched conditions. The chitosan membranes were characterized by in vitro degradation, ray-X diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscope and surface tension. According to the results, the lysozyme enzyme was shown efficient in the biodegradation of the chitosan membranes; the ray-X diffraction of the membranes showed alterations in the crystallinity; the spectra of the chitosan membranes showed significant alterations after the contact with the lysozyme; the micrographs showed the formation of pores in the degraded membranes and the results of the surface tension indicated a more hydrophobic standard in the guided membranes.