CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

A large family of azo dyes have been developed and used in the textile industry, includingfor leather tainting, and are therefore expected to exhibit strong interactions with collagenbasedmaterials. Here we investigate the mechanisms of adsorption of the Remazol black Bdye on type I collagen hydrogel. Higher and stronger retention of the dye is achieved inalkaline conditions, correlated with enhanced thermal and mechanical stability of thehydrogel. The formation of a covalent bond between the dye and the protein network viaMichael reaction is suggested and supported by the detailed analysis of the kinetics andthermodynamics of the sorption reaction. Type I collagen hydrogels combine low cost, fastsorption, high loading and strong retention capacity together with low storage volume,making them promising materials for dye remediation. Dye-modified hydrogels may alsofind applications in the biomedical field.