2020 Volume 18 Issue 2 Pages 63-70
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) release substantial vibrational energy after exposure to near-infrared (NIR) irradiation. This study examines the preparation of exothermic complexes comprising CNTs, DNA, and protamine (CNT/DNA-protamine complexes), and evaluates the complex membrane for use as a barrier membrane in guided bone regeneration (GBR). Heat generation of the CNT/DNA-protamine complex membrane increased with amount of CNTs in the complex, and the temperature increase reached 16–17.6°C after irradiation for 4 min. The degradation rate of the complex membrane immersed in PBS was influenced by the amount of CNTs and was lower than that of DNA-protamine complexes (DP complexes) used as a control. The CNT/DNA-protamine complexes showed higher resistance to compressive deformation than DP complexes. The results of this study suggested that CNT/DNA-protamine complexes may be candidate biodegradable membranes with controllable heat generation and an adjustable degradation rate for use in GBR.
