Abstract
So-called bioactive ceramics have been attractive because they spontaneously bond to living bone. Organic-inorganic hybrids consisting of organic polymers and the essential constituents of the bioactive ceramics, i.e. Si-OH group and Ca2+, are useful as novel bone substitutes, owing to bioactivity and high flexibility. In the present study, organic-inorganic hybrids were synthesized from chitin by modification with glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPS) and calcium chloride (CaCl2). Their apatite-forming ability was examined in a simulated body fluid (Kokubo solution). Homogeneous bulk gel was obtained when mass ratio of chitin to the total of chitin and GPS was 0.25. The prepared hybrids formed apatite on their surfaces in Kokubo solution within 7 days. This indicates that such modification is also available to chitin-based biomaterials with bone-bonding ability.
