Fabrication and Characterization of Gelatin/Chitosan Hydrogel Membranes

Abstract

The gelatin/chitosan (GEL/CTS, GC) membranes have been fabricated well by a simple in-situmethod. The as-prepared GC membranes were characterized by morphological surface (scanning electronmicroscopy, SEM), chemical (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, FT-IR), crystallinity (X-raydiffraction, XRD), thermal (thermal gravimetric analysis, TGA), mechanical (tensile test), hydrophilic(water contact angle), and swelling properties to elucidate the changes in their chemical structures andmorphologies. The morphological structure of the GC membranes was found to be very smooth, non-roughand homogeneous. The FT-IR and XRD studies manifest that the GC membranes have good interaction andcompatibility between GEL and CTS in the hydrogel mixture. The prepared GC membranes also obtainbetter thermal, mechanical and swelling properties comparing to the raw CTS molecule. These resultssuggest that the nontoxic GC membrane can become a preferred hydrogel membrane in the field of wounddressing or tissue-engineering applications.