PREPARATION AND PROPERTIES OF NOVEL BIOCOMPATIBLE PECTIN/SILICA CALCIUM PHOSPHATE HYBRIDS

Abstract

The development of bioactive polysaccharide-based hybrid materials is necessary for finding new alternatives in the field of biomaterials. As a bioactive water-soluble polysaccharide, pectin was used in this study to prepare reinforced silica gel monoliths through the sol-gel method. In-situ mineralization of calcium phosphate was achieved using calcium chloride and phosphate precursors. The properties of the pectin/silica/calcium phosphate hybrid were examined using FTIR, XRD and SEM/EDX techniques. Based on the results of the tests on kidney (Vero) cell lines, the pectin/silica/calcium phosphate hybrid demonstrated very mild cytotoxicity. In addition, the cytotoxicity of different hybrid concentrations was assessed with an MTT test, and the results demonstrated that their non-cytotoxicity for the concentrations investigated.