Preparation and Characterization of Chitosan/β-Glycerophosphate Thermal-Sensitive Hydrogel Reinforced by Graphene Oxide

Thermal-sensitive hydrogel based on chitosan (CS) and β-glycerophosphate (GP) has shown good biocompatibility and biodegradability. But the application of such hydrogel is limited due to its poor mechanical property. Recently, graphene oxide(GO) is widely used as a reinforcement agent to prepare nanocomposites with different polymers for improving the properties of the materials. In this study, CS/GP-based hydrogels with different weight ratio of GO/CS (0.5, 1, 2%) were fabricated. The gelation time of the hydrogels at body temperature was evaluated by tube inverting method. The gelation process during heating was monitored by rheological measurement. The morphology, porosities, chemical structure, swelling properties of the lyophilized hydrogels were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, liquid displacement method, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gravimetric method. Mechanical property of the hydrogels was analyzed by rheological measurement and unconfined compression test. MC3T3-E1 mouse pre-osteoblast cell line was used to assess the biological properties of the hydrogels. The results obtained from those assessments revealed that the addition of GO into CS/GP improved the properties of the prepared hydrogels without changing the high porous and interconnected microstructure and swelling ability of the hydrogels. The gelation time at body temperature was significantly reduced by nearly 20% with the addition of small amount of GO (0.5% weight ratio of CS). The mechanical properties of the hydrogels containing GO were improved significantly over that of CS/GP. The storage (G′)/loss (G″) moduli of the hydrogels with GO were 1.12 to 1.69 times that of CS/GP at the gelling temperature. The Young's modulus of 0.5%GO/CS/GP hydrogel is 1.76 times that of CS/GP. Moreover, the 0.5%GO/CS/GP hydrogel revealed remarkable biological affinity such as cellular attachment, viability and proliferation. All of these results suggest that 0.5%GO/CS/GP hydrogel has great potential for practical application in biomedical field.