N,O-Carboxymethylchitosan (NO-CMC) and Oligo-Chitosan (O-C) : Scaffold Characterization

Chitosan is of great interest because it is biocompatible, biodegradable and abundant in nature. Accurate characterization of modified chitosan biopolymers is essential to optimize their usage. In our present work, we have tested the physicochemical characterization of 4 different types of chitosan biomaterials, which are classified into N,O-carboxymethylchitosan (NO-CMC) and Oligo-Chitosan (O-C). We have employed Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to analyze the functional groups and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to examine the scaffold membrane properties of each biomaterial. The FTIR analysis confirmed that a large number of alterations were made towards the NO-CMC group of chitosan. Meanwhile, most of the bands observed in the O-C group can generally be found in the standard model of chitosan. Shifting of the carbonyl group is only noticed in O-C group, which distinguishes both chitosan groups at 1644.20–1633.69 cm-1 peak.The NO-CMC and O-C groups, which have compressive porous structures, are able to support tissue and cell adherence via mechanical strength. Chitosan biopolymers, which vary from different grades and forms, are performing best when their unique properties are optimized. Hence, the study of these structurally modified chitosans and their characterization is very important to correlate their usage and properties in various fields.