Preparation and characterization of polyvinyl alcohol-chitosan biocompatible magnetic microparticles

This work addresses the obtaining of biocompatible magnetic polyvinyl alcohol-chitosan microspheres, specifically tailored/functionalised to bind directly blood toxins using an emulsion crosslinking preparation method. The following synthesis parameters were studied: water to oil phase ratio, polyvinyl alcohol molecular weight, chitosan to polyvinyl alcohol weight ratio, surfactant composition and concentration of the crosslinking agent. These parameters were optimized for producing a high yield of colloidally stable and uniformly sized particles with significant magnetization of saturation, bearing surface amino groups that can be further used to bind blood toxins directly. The particles were characterized regarding their size distribution and surface charge (laser diffraction analysis), morphology (transmission electron microscopy), magnetic properties, chemical composition (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and concentration of the surface amino groups (conductometric titration). (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.