Collagen as a biomaterial: Modulus jump and degradation of collagen gels

✍ Scribed by Carl W. Zvanut; Ferdinand Rodriguez

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1976
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 416 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/app.1976.070201021

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The effect of temperature on the storage modulus G′ of UV crosslinked collagen has been investigated. Collagen solutions, 0.5%, at pH 2.2 were irradiated at 4°C to a maximum modulus, after which they were stored at 4°C. In order to study the effect of temperatures above 4°C, the gels were placed in a constant‐temperature bath and the change in modulus with time was recorded using a torsion pendulum. The temperatures studied ranged from 25° to 60°C. The results show an initial jump in modulus immediately on heating presumably due to the helix‐coil transition. The modulus goes through a maximum value. There is then a decay of modulus with time which is linear on a semilog plot. This could indicate a first‐order chain‐scission reaction, since the storage modulus is directly proportional to the number of crosslinks. A simple kinetic expression can be written for which the value of the rate constant can be determined from the data.