Lyophilization as a novel approach for preparation of water resistant HA fiber membranes by crosslinked with EDC

The hyaluronic acid (HA) fibers scaffold with an extracellular matrix mimic structure has been prepared via lyophilization. The morphology of the HA fibers varying the concentration from 0.05 wt% to 0.15 wt% was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The diameter of HA fibers increased and the morphology changed from fiber to sheet-like structure as the concentration of HA solution increased. To enhance the water-resistance, the pure HA fiber membranes were chemical cross-linked by 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC), and confirmed by fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra. In vitro degradation behavior of cross-linked HA fiber membranes in both of water and PBS solutions was investigated, the physical properties were also studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetry (TG). The results showed that the bonding water capacity increased after crosslinking, and indicated that the crosslinked HA fibers could be used as scaffold in tissue engineering.