抄録
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the influence of the alternate dipping condition on the tensile strength of HAp/collagen composite fibers. We prepared the collagen fibers using the bio-inspired method, where the fibrosis and the cross-linking are generated at the same time. Here, 1-ethy-3carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) was selected as the cross-linking agent. Then, the HAp crystals were deposited on the surface of the prepared collagen fibers using the biomimetic deposition method, where the collagen fibers are dipped into the pseudo body fluid alternately. The tensile tests were carried out using the micro-tensile testing device developed by the authors previously. As a result, the tensile strength of the collagen fibers was maximized under the EDC concentration of 5 [mmol/L]. The amount of the deposited HAp crystals were increased with the increase of the alternate dipping time, resulting in the increase of the tensile strength of the HAp/collagen composite fibers, within the range covered in this paper. The size of the deposited HAp crystals were decreased with the decrease of the alternate dipping temperature, resulting in the increase of the tensile strength of the HAp/collagen composite fibers, within the range covered in this paper. It can be suggested that this is attributed to the uniform HAp deposition. As a next step, it is desired to develop the bundling method of the HAp/collagen composite fibers and investigate its optimum condition.
