Use of dicarboxylic acid (azelaic acid) to prepare carbohydrate and protein based scaffold biopolymer with improved mechanical and thermal property for biomedical applications

Transformation of natural polymers to biopolymers for biomedical applications, face number of challenges, viz., solubility, stabilizers, strength, biocompatibility, thermal stability, etc. Hence, intensive research on suitable agents to provide the requisite properties has been initiated at global level. In the present study, an attempt was made on to engineer the Chitosan and collagen macromolecules using azelaic acid and further evaluated the thermal, mechanical and biocompatible properties of the engineered biopolymer material. Scaffold biopolymer material (3D) was prepared using Chitosan at 1.0% (w/v) and azelaic acid at 0.2% (w/v), similarly collagen 0.5% (w/v) and azelaic acid 0.2% (w/v) without using any organic solvents. Analysis revealed, the engineered materials displayed an appreciable mechanical strength and in addition found biocompatible for NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells. Studies on the chemistry behind the interaction and the characteristics of the cross-linked biopolymer materials suggested the non - covalent interactions play the major role in deciding the property of the said polymer materials and its suitability for biomedical applications.