Rushita Shah

Preparation of bacterial cellulose based hydrogels and their viscoelastic behavior

Bacterial cellulose (BC) based hydrogels have been prepared in blended with carboxymethylcellulose and polyvinyl pyrrolidone by using heat treatment. The properties of BC-CMC and BC-PVP hydrogels were compared with pure BC, CMC and PVP hydrogels. These hydrogels were investigated by measuring their structural, morphological and viscoelastic properties. Through the morphological images, alignment of the porous flake like structures could be seen clearly within the inter-polymeric network of the hydrogels. Also, the detail structure analysis of the polymers blended during the hydrogel formation confirms their interactions with each other were studied. Further, the viscoelastic behavior of all the hydrogels in terms of elastic and viscous property was studied. It is observed that at 1% strain, including CMC and PVP hydrogels, all the BC based hydrogels exhibited the linear trend throughout. Also the elastic nature of the material remains high compared to viscous nature. Moreover, the changes could be noticed in case of blended polymer based hydrogels. The values of complex viscosity (η*) decreases with increase in angular frequency within the range of ω = 0.1−100 rad.s−1.

Properties of biomineralized (CaCO3) PVP-CMC hydrogel with reference to its cytotoxicity

ABSTRACT The authors focus on properties of biomineralized (CaCO3) PVP-CMC hydrogel (designated as I–X) including cytotoxicity assay using primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts. The biomineralized samples (VII–X) showed >80% cell viability, was selected for further characterizations. FTIR and XRD indicate deposition of CaCO3 within the PVP-CMC hydrogel matrix, SEM shows changes in morphology and pore diameter (VII and VIII: 1–12 µm; IX: 10–70 µm; X: 70–170 µm), TGA determines the decomposition scenario of CaCO3, and tensile strength of samples (VII–X) ranged between 0.04 and 1.0 GPa, which practically corresponds to the modulus of cancellous bone. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Morphology, absorptivity and viscoelastic properties of mineralized PVP-CMC hydrogel

A simple liquid diffusion mineralization technique was applied for the incorporation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in PVP-CMC hydrogel. The hydrogel was prepared 6.5 mm thick to achieve around 1 mm thick sample after mineralization of hydrogel matrix with calcite. The calcite crystals were round shaped and organized as building blocks inside the porous three dimensional cross linked structure of the PVP-CMC hydrogel. The present study was designed to evaluate the properties of mineralized (calcite) hydrogel with respect to freshly prepared hydrogel and those swelled in water (H2O) after drying. The viscoelastic properties of swelled and mineralized samples were reported though the dry PVP-CMC hydrogel were swelled and mineralized with calcite until 150 min. It is observed that there is not much difference in elastic property of fresh and 60 min mineralized hydrogels but the values of elastic property are decreased in the case of swelled hydrogels. It is interesting that in case of swelled samples the value...

Mineralized polymer composites as biogenic bone substitute material

Mineralized polymer composites (MPC) are recognized as potential fillers of bone defects. Though bioceramics exhibits quite a good bone-bonding and vascularization, it is considered to be too stiff and brittle for using alone. Thus, the use of polymer scaffold instead of bioceramics has several advantages including combining the osteoconductivity and bone-bonding potential of the inorganic phase with the porosity and interconnectivity of the three-dimensional construction. Aiming the advantages of ceramic-polymer composite scaffolds, the calcium carbonate (CaCO3) based biomineralized scaffold was prepared, where the PVP-CMC hydrogel was used as an extracellular matrix. This paper is reported about the morphology, swelling trend (in physiological solution) and viscoelastic behavior of (90 min mineralized) MPC. The dry MPC are off-white, coarse in texture, comparatively less flexible than the original PVP-CMC based hydrogel film, and the deposition of granular structures on the surface of the hydrogel film ...