Thermo-chemical modification of a natural biomembrane to induce mucoadhesion, pH sensitivity and anisotropic mechanical properties

Abstract In the present study due to the distinctive mechanochemical/biological characteristics of natural biomembranes, we state the preparation, characterization and cytocompatibility of modified eggshell membrane (ESM) by citric acid (CA) for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. FTIR spectroscopy and CHNS analysis demonstrated the successful reaction of ESM with CA. Also, successful modification of the ESM was observed by the change in thermogravimetric analysis. SEM micrographs of neat ESM and ESM-CA gave further insight into membranes morphology and revealed that aligned oriented fibrous frameworks were prepared using thermo-chemical process. The ESM-CA displayed dense and orderly shapes with tailorable architectures to mimic the intended tissue. Moreover, mechanical analyzes for ESM-CA indicated anisotropic mechanical properties and proved that the ESM-CA could induce enhanced mucoadhesion, because of the existence of an enormous amounts of functional groups. It was found that by modification of ESM the swelling behavior was significantly changed. Indomethacin release from the ESM-CA showed enhanced pH sensitivity. The modified membranes have clearly presented adequate mucoadhesion, pH sensitivity and cell viability which can be tailored for potential use in controlled lipophilic drug delivery systems and tissue engineering.