Hydrogels of gelatin/nanocellulose with potential to dental applications?

JULIETA MIRASSO; MELISA BRACONE; JIMENA GONZALEZ; VERA ALVAREZ; FERNANDA HORST; VERÓNICA LASSALLE

Bahia Blanca

Conferencia; VII International Conference on Composites Materials; 2018

PLAPIQUI

In the present study hydrogels based on gelatin and nanocellulose (NC) were synthesized to be used as patches for dental treatments. The freeze-thawing methodology was employed to the preparation using 1, 2 and 5% w/w of nanocellulose. SEM, FTIR and rotational reometry characterization were carried out to analyze the effect of nanocellulose addition to the gelatin matrix. The swelling behavior was tested in distilled water and buffer phosphate at room temperature. The physical absorption of a model protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA), was assayed reaching around 20% with respect to the initial amount added. The incorporation of a model drug such as lidocaine hydrochloride to the hydrogels matrix was studied. For this purpose two strategies were evaluated: simple absorption and encapsulation drug during the synthesis. The adsorption efficiency reached almost 11% with respect to the initial drug concentration by simple absorption, corresponding to a loading capacity of about 666.63 mg of lidocaine/g hydrogel. The release kinetics was also explored fixing conditions simulating the dental environment.