Electron-Beam-Induced Grafting of Chitosan onto HDPE/ATZ Composites for Biomedical Applications
Maria Giulia Faga,
Donatella Duraccio,
Mattia Di Maro,
Christelle Kowandy,
Giulio Malucelli,
Federico Davide Mussano,
Tullio Genova,
Xavier Coqueret
Affiliations
Maria Giulia Faga
Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie per l’Energia e la Mobilità Sostenibili (STEMS)-UOS di Torino, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Torino, Italy
Donatella Duraccio
Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie per l’Energia e la Mobilità Sostenibili (STEMS)-UOS di Torino, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Torino, Italy
Mattia Di Maro
Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie per l’Energia e la Mobilità Sostenibili (STEMS)-UOS di Torino, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Torino, Italy
Christelle Kowandy
Institut de Chimie Moléculaire de Reims (ICMR), UMR CNRS 7312, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Moulin de la Housse, BP 1039, CEDEX 2, 51687 Reims, France
Giulio Malucelli
Politecnico di Torino-Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, and Local INSTM Unit, Viale Teresa Michel 5, 15121 Alessandria, Italy
Federico Davide Mussano
Dipartimento di Scienze Chirurgiche CIR Dental School, Università di Torino, via Nizza 230, 10126 Torino, Italy
Tullio Genova
Dipartimento Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi, Università di Torino, via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Torino, Italy
Xavier Coqueret
Institut de Chimie Moléculaire de Reims (ICMR), UMR CNRS 7312, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Moulin de la Housse, BP 1039, CEDEX 2, 51687 Reims, France
The surface functionalisation of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and HDPE/alumina-toughened zirconia (ATZ) surfaces with chitosan via electron-beam (EB) irradiation technique was exploited for preparing materials suitable for biomedical purposes. ATR–FTIR analysis and wettability measurements were employed for monitoring the surface changes after both irradiation and chitosan grafting reaction. Interestingly, the presence of ATZ loadings beyond 2 wt% influenced both the EB irradiation process and the chitosan functionalisation reaction, decreasing the oxidation of the surface and the chitosan grafting. The EB irradiation induced an increase in Young’s modulus and a decrease in the elongation at the break of all analysed systems, whereas the tensile strength was not affected in a relevant way. Biological assays indicated that electrostatic interactions between the negative charges of the surface of cell membranes and the –NH3+ sites on chitosan chains promoted cell adhesion, while some oxidised species produced during the irradiation process are thought to cause a detrimental effect on the cell viability.
