Title:Chitosan-Nanocellulose Composites for Regenerative Medicine Applications
Volume: 27
Issue: 28
Author(s): Avik Khan, Baobin Wang and Yonghao Ni*
Affiliation:
- Limerick Pulp and Paper Centre, Department of Chemical Engineering; University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3,Canada
Keywords:
Cellulose, nanomaterials, morphology, cytotoxicity, biomedical application, polysaccharide.
Abstract: Regenerative medicine represents an emerging multidisciplinary field that brings
together engineering methods and complexity of life sciences into a unified fundamental understanding
of structure-property relationship in micro/nano environment to develop the next
generation of scaffolds and hydrogels to restore or improve tissue functions. Chitosan has several
unique physico-chemical properties that make it a highly desirable polysaccharide for
various applications such as, biomedical, food, nutraceutical, agriculture, packaging, coating,
etc. However, the utilization of chitosan in regenerative medicine is often limited due to its
inadequate mechanical, barrier and thermal properties. Cellulosic nanomaterials (CNs), owing
to their exceptional mechanical strength, ease of chemical modification, biocompatibility and
favorable interaction with chitosan, represent an attractive candidate for the fabrication of chitosan/
CNs scaffolds and hydrogels. The unique mechanical and biological properties of the
chitosan/CNs bio-nanocomposite make them a material of choice for the development of next
generation bio-scaffolds and hydrogels for regenerative medicine applications. In this review,
we have summarized the preparation method, mechanical properties, morphology, cytotoxicity/
biocompatibility of chitosan/CNs nanocomposites for regenerative medicine applications,
which comprises tissue engineering and wound dressing applications.