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Collagen, a biopolymer finds its application in the preparation of pharmaceutical products that are used in wound management, ophthalmic, orthopaedic and oral surgeries. This wide applicability is due its special properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, easy availability and high versatility. Collagen is isolated from various sources such as bovine skin, fish skin, chicken skin, skin waste of marine organisms, solid wastes of leather industry, short tendons of slaughtered cattle and bone. The isolated collagen from biological wastes is found to be cost effective due to the adaptation of simple methods for its isolation when compared with other commercially available biological macromolecules. The functional groups such as amino and carboxylic acid present in collagen helps in its modification that suits for various end uses which include wound healing, ophthalmic defects, drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. These beneficial properties impart uniqueness to collagen molecule among the available bio molecules.

With the aim of utilizing the Keratinous waste material, poultry feather, which is up till now discarded as a waste, was hydrolyzed to form keratin hydrolyzate (FH). As FH does not form a film, it was mixed with gelatin (G) and FH‐G composite was prepared in film form. FH‐G was further graft co‐polymerized with 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) to achieve better physico‐chemical properties for the resultant hydrogels. Percentage grafting studies and IR studies confirmed the grafting of PHEMA onto FH‐G. FH‐G‐PHEMA exhibited better mechanical properties compared to FH‐G and FH‐PHEMA. TG studies clearly indicated the grafting of HEMA onto FH and FH‐G. SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) pictures of FH‐G and FH‐PHEMA films exhibited brittle nature on their surface, whereas continuity and A smooth surface was observed on for the FH‐G‐PHEMA films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composites, in film form, containing physiologically clotted fibrin, chitosan and gelatin were prepared and crosslinked with glutaraldehyde. The films were characterised for their IR spectroscopy, water absorption capacity (WAC) at different pH conditions, mechanical properties and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fibrin+gelatin films gave higher WAC values in all the pH ranges (2,7 and 10) studied. However, with the addition of chitosan, the WAC values of the composite decreased. This was attributed to the crosslinking of glutaraldehyde with the hydrophilic groups available on chitosan and gelatin/fibrin. The amount of individual constituents, which gave maximum tensile strength to the FCG composite, was optimized. SEM pictures of the FCG have exhibited the fibrous and porous nature of the composite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nanostructure processing was applied to derive a novel hydroxyapatite–titania bioceramic with ultrafine structure and significantly improved mechanical properties for orthopedic and dental implant applications. Despite its attractive bioactivity, hydroxyapatite (HAp) has been limited in applications due to the poor processability and mechanical strength of the conventional material. To improve the load-sharing and stress distribution we have introduced in situ nanostructured high-strength HAp–TiO2 obtained by microwave-assisted co-precipitation. The nanostructured HAp–TiO2 nanocomposite demonstrated excellent chemical and structural uniformity. This novel inorganic–inorganic hybrid ceramic holds a great promise for bone tissue engineering. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]