Notice of RetractionSurface Roughness of Agarose Acetate Membrane and Its Biocompatibility

Notice of Retraction

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To extend the application of agarose in tissue regeneration and seek a new hydrophobic or amphiphic agarose for biomedical applications, the agarose acetate with different degree of substitution (DS) was synthesized by acetic anhydride. When the reacting temperature was 30°C, 40°C or 50°C for 1.5h, the DS of agarose acetate was 1.3, 2.6 or 3.7 respectively. Infrared spectra and ¹³C-NMR spectra proved that acetic anhydride reacted with C₆ in agarose. Results of the contact angle measurements showed that agarose acetate got more hydrophobic than agarose with higher DS. The spinning tests proved that agarose acetate had spinnability, and the fiber was not swelled and kept their shapes in water, and their water uptake can reach minimum value, 52.5%. These proved that agarose acetate was conveniently processed into porous hydrophobic scaffold without chemical crosslinking. Under AFM, it was found that the dissolved agarose acetate automatically formed rough membrane, and the surface roughness of agarose acetate membrane increased with DS. Results of protein adsorption showed that the agarose acetate membrane with higher DS was prone to adsorb bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein, and cell adhesion experiments proved that fibroblasts proliferated better on agarose acetate membrane with higher DS. These demonstrate that agarose acetate has good biocompatibility and is hopeful to be used in biomedical applications.