N. O. Gegel

Preparation and Properties of 3D Chitosan Microtubes

The preparation of 3D chitosan microtubes from polymer solutions in citric and lactic acids by the wet and dry molding methods is described. The mechanism of formation of the insoluble polymeric layer constructing the walls of these microtubes is characterized. The microtubes obtained from chitosan solutions in citric acid are found to have a fragile porous inner layer. For those obtained from chitosan solutions in lactic acid the morphology, elastic-deformation properties, physicomechanical properties, and biocompatibility were assessed. These samples have smooth outer and inner surfaces with no visible defects and high values of elongation at break. The strength of the microtubes obtained by the dry method is much higher than in the case of the wet one. A high adhesion and high proliferative activity of the epithelial-like MA-104 cellular culture on the surface of our microtubular substrates in model in vitro experiments were revealed. Prospects of using chitosan microtubes as vascular prostheses are suggested.

Modification of cellulose acetates for preparing chiral sorbents

Modification of cellulose acetates via sorption-desorption of vapors of mesogenic solvents in which the polymer forms a lyotropic liquid crystal phase and of mixtures of these solvents with water leads to the formation of a new chiral structure of the polymeric sample. This is manifested in a significant change in the value and even sign of the specific optical rotation of the polysaccharide system. The sorbents based on cellulose acetates that have been modified by such treatment exhibit specific affinity for definite optical antipodes. When a racemic mixture of L- and D-isomers of amino acids is passed through this sorbent, it acts as a chiral filter owing to “steric recognition” of one of the enantiomers, so that the filtrate contains an optically pure product (isomer). The revealed effects served as a basis for the development of a new procedure for preparation of optically pure stereoisomers of chiral products.

Orientation processes in cellulose acetate under the action of dimethyl sulfoxide vapor

Spontaneous variation of the linear size (elongation-contraction) of acetate fibers in a vapor of dimethyl sulfoxide, which is a mesophasogenic solvent, i.e., a solvent forming a liquid crystal phase with the polymer, is described. A mechanism of the interaction of the polymer with the solvent vapor is suggested.

Evidence of the layer structure formation of chitosan microtubes by the Liesegang ring mechanism

In the work, an experiment was performed to simulate the process of chitosan microtube formation through the interphase polysalt → polybase chemical reaction, on the one hand, and the formation of spatially separated structures under the conditions of reactive diffusion of one of the components, on the other hand. The formation of alternating dark and light bands or concentric rings of the chitosan polybase as a result of the polymer-analogous transformation is visualized by optical microscopy. The results obtained confirm our assumption that the layered structure of our chitosan microtubes is formed according to the Liesegang reaction mechanism.

Spectroscopic analysis of the powdery complex chitosan-iodine

A chitosan-iodine complex was obtained by modification of polymer powder in the vapor of an iodine-containing sorbate and studied by electron and IR spectroscopy, optical rotation dispersion. It was found that the electronic spectra of an aqueous solution of the modified chitosan (the source one and that stored for a year) showed intense absorption bands of triiodide and iodate ions, and also polyiodide ions, bound to the macromolecule by exciton bonding with charge transfer. Analysis of the IR spectra shows destruction of the network of intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the iodinated chitosan powder in comparison with the source polymer and the formation of a new chemical substance. E.g., the absorption band of deformation vibrations of the hydroxyl group disappears in the modified sample, and that of the protonated amino group shifts toward shorter wavelengths. The intensity of the stretching vibration band of the glucopyranose ring atoms significantly reduces. Heating of the modified sample at a temperature below the thermal degradation point of the polymer leads to stabilization of the chitosan-iodine complex. Based on our studies, the hydroxyl and amino groups of the aminopolysaccharide have been recognized as the centers of retention of polyiodide chains in the chitosan matrix.

Influence of Chitosan Ascorbate Chirality on the Gelation Kinetics and Properties of Silicon-Chitosan-Containing Glycerohydrogels

The influence of the chirality of chitosan ascorbate on the gelation kinetics and the properties of hybrid silicon-chitosan-containing glycerohydrogels were studied with a deep estimation of the stereospecificity of chitosan polysalts with l- and d-ascorbic acid diastereomers and their biological effects. It has been established that l- and d-diastereomerically enriched chitosan ascorbates are characterized by a positive Cotton effect and differ in the wavelength of the maximum of the dichroic band (250 and 240 nm), as well as in the values of its specific ellipticity (21.8 × 105 and 39.2 × 105 deg·mL·dm−1·g−1), the sign of specific optical rotation (+ and −), the type of dispersion curves (anomalous and smooth), as well as the condensed phase morphology (anisodiametric particles with optical anisotropy and confocal domains of spherical shape, respectively). In the biomimetic sol-gel synthesis of silicon-chitosan-containing glycerohydrogels using silicon tetraglycerolate as a precursor, it was found that chitosan d-ascorbate retarded gelation. Thin congruent plates obtained from the corresponding glycerohydrogels based on chitosan d-ascorbate have higher mechanical strength and elasticity under uniaxial stretching and lower values of Young’s modulus. It has been shown that the systems based on chitosan d-ascorbate show the greatest antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus 209P and Escherichia coli 113-13 and significantly promote the viability of normal human dermal fibroblasts. The results of our assessment of the biological properties of chitosan polysalts are unexpected, since ascorbic acid exhibits biological activity as its l-isomer only.

Оptical activity of chitosan films with induced anisotropy

The optical anisotropy and optical activity of salt and basic chitosan films, both initial and modified in formic acid vapor were studied. The modification of such films was found to be accompanied by induced time-stable optical anisotropy, by varying the values of specific optical rotation [α] and an inversion of the sign of [α]. The angular dependences (indicatrices) of the specific optical rotation of films on the orientation angle of the sample relative to the direction of the polarization vector of the incident light beam in a plane perpendicular to the beam were obtained. The indicatrices of the initial chitosan films have an almost symmetrical character while those of the films modified in formic acid vapor are irregular. It is concluded of the formation of a vitrified cholesteric mesophase in the chitosan films with induced optical anisotropy.

Phase Analysis of the Cellulose Triacetate-Nitromethane System

A comprehensive study was made on the cellulose triacetate-nitromethane system to explore its phase separation within ranges 2–25 wt.% and by means of polarization light and electron microscopy, the turbidity spectrum method, differential thermal and X-ray analyses, and rheological techniques. The physical state of the polymer was identified within the phase coexistence boundaries on the phase diagram which included three types of phase separation (amorphous (with a UCST at and wt.%), crystal, and liquid crystal). The boundaries of the regions determining the coexistence of the liquid crystal (LC) and the partly crystal phase were found to be inside the region of amorphous liquid-liquid phase separation. For cellulose ester-solvent systems, this state diagram is the first experimental evidence for the possibility of coexistence of several phases with amorphous, LC, and crystal polymer ordering.