Aerogels
based on hyaluronic acid (HA) were prepared without any
chemical crosslinking by polymer dissolution, network formation via
nonsolvent-induced phase separation, and supercritical CO2 drying. The influence of solution pH, concentration of HA, and type
of nonsolvent on network volume shrinkage, aerogel density, morphology,
and specific surface area was investigated. A marked dependence of
aerogel properties on solution pH was observed: aerogels with the
highest specific surface area, 510 m2/g, and the lowest
density, 0.057 g/cm3, were obtained when the HA solution
was at its isoelectric point (pH 2.5). This work reports the first
results ever on neat HA aerogels and constitutes the background for
their use as advanced materials for biomedical applications.
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