Degradation of hyaluronan by an electrochemical process

Degradation of hyaluronan (hyaluronic acid, HA) by electrochemical process was investigated and the effect on the degradation of HA was demonstrated by means of viscometry and size exclusion chromatography. The structures of the original and degraded HA were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra, nuclear magnetic resonance spectra and ultraviolet spectra analysis. The experimental results showed that when HA was treated by electrolysis using Ti/TiO2–RuO2 electrode, the molar mass of HA dramatically decreased with the increase of electrolysis time and current density, and the chemical structure of degraded HA was not obviously modified. It was concluded that the electrochemical method can be a useful alternative for degradation of HA.