Preparation And Characterization Of Collagen-TiO₂ Nanocomposite And Collagen-ZnO Nanocomposite

Nanocomposite is becoming more and more popular in nano-material research because of its superior performance and comprehensive application foreground. Nano-particles prepared with sol-gel procedure have small particle size and uniform dispersion degree. In the study, nano-collagen composite was prepared with sol-gel procedure in situ in the collagen fibers. The research consists of two parts: the preparation and characterization of collagen-TiO₂ nanocomposite and collagen-ZnO nanocomposite.In the first part, collagen-TiO₂ nanocomposite was synthesized with sol-gel process. Nano-TiO₂ sol was prepared with HCl as catalytic, acetic acid as chelating agent and Ti(OBu)4 as precursor, and the optimal material mixture ratio was determined experimentally. At the same time, the goatskin collagen fibers were prepared by common procedure with intense liming. Then, collagen fibers were put into nano-TiO₂ sol with stirring for 5h,glutaraldehyde added as cross linking agent and pH level was elevated. Both the optimal added glutaraldehyde amount and the optimal pH level were determined experimentally. Results show that collagen-TiO₂ nanocomposite has better hydrothermal stability and mechanical properties, and the introduction of nano-TiO₂ into collagen fibers endows collagen-TiO₂ nanocomposite...