Chitosan scaffolds for cartilage regeneration: influence of different ionic crosslinkers on biomaterial properties

Chitosan is considered an elective scaffolding material in articular cartilage engineering due to its structural similarity with various Glycosamminogicans found in articular cartilage. Its poor mechanical properties, though, must be enhanced through a crosslinking treatment. Arginine (Arg) and tripolyphosphate (TPP), have been chosen as crosslinking agents, and their influence onto the chemico-physical properties (morphology, mechanical performances and stability behavior) of the resulting chitosan scaffold have been elucidated. The methodological conditions to produce a scaffold for the cartilage regeneration with tunable structural and chemical physical properties have been assessed. Furthermore, this study introduces Arginine as an innovative stabilizing agent.