Characterization of Gelatin-Carboxymethylcellulose Scaffolds

Abstract—Scaffold is a biocompatible material that helps relieve patients with skin loss symptoms caused by, for example, burns and ulcer. The scaffold also provides suitable condition at the wounded site and promotes faster healing process. In this research, gelatin was selected for scaffold fabrication with additional Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) for the structural strengthening where freeze drying method was used to form the porous structure. The scaffold was fabricated in various gelatin-CMC ratio for the investigation which was 100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30 and 60:40. The material behavior of this scaffold is likely to be a foam-like hyperelastic material. Therefore, large deformation theory was applied to achieve the engineering stress constitutive equation in forms of Blatz-Ko model. The large deformation theory has been used to derive the constitutive equation to obtain the engineering stress equation in the form of Blatz-Ko hyperelastic model. The mechanical characterization of the scaffold was done by performing compressive test using universal testing machine (UTM). The data obtained from the UTM were used to plot the stress-strain relation. The identification of shear modulus of the scaffold was done using curve fitting method where it is approximately 7% according to the Blatz-Ko model description that it is suitable for infinitesimal strain theory. The physical characterization was done by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to investigate pore size of scaffolds. The results obtained showed the appropriate pore size of the scaffold with average pore size of 130 μm to 180 μm.

Index Terms—Hyperelastic material, Blatz-Ko, shear modulus, scaffold, gelatin, carboxymethylcellouse.

Fasai Wiwatwongwana is with Department of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Pathumwan Institute of Technology, 833 Rama 1 Road, Wangmai, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand (e-mail: fasaiw227@gmail.com).
Nattawit Promma is with Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, 239 Huay Kaew Road, Muang District, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand (e-mail: nano_504@hotmail.com).

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Cite: Fasai Wiwatwongwana and Nattawit Promma, "Characterization of Gelatin-Carboxymethylcellulose Scaffolds," International Journal of Materials, Mechanics and Manufacturing vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 12-15, 2019.