Hyaluronic acid (HA) and chitosan (CHI) are biopolyelectrolytes which are interesting for both the medical and polymer physics communities due to their biocompatibility and semi-flexibility, respectively. In this work, we demonstrate by rheology experiments that the linear viscoelasticity of HA/CHI coacervates depends strongly on the molecular weight of the polymers. Moduli for coacervates were found significantly higher than those of individual HA and CHI physical gels. A remarkable 1.5-fold increase in moduli was noted when catechol-conjugated HA and CHI were used instead. This was attributed to the conversion of coacervates to chemical gels by oxidation of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) groups in HA and CHI to di-DOPA crosslinks. These rheological results put HA/CHI coacervates in the category of strong candidates as injectable tissue scaffolds or medical adhesives.
Keywords: DOPA; catechol; chitosan; coacervation; hyaluronic acid; linear viscoelasticity; rheology.