VIII INSTM CONFERENCE, Catania, 26-29 th June 2011 SO1 Morphology Tuning of Chitosan Films via Electrochemical Deposition on Metallic Substrates Lina Altomare, a * Alberto Cigada a,b , Roberto Chiesa a,b , Luigi De Nardo a,b a Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica “G. Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy; b INSTM – Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Scienza e la Tecnologia dei Materiali *Corresponding author. +390223993161, lina.altomare@polimi.it Concept Cathodic electrodeposition represents a powerful surface modification technique for biopolymer deposition since it allows an easy control of process parameters which affect the quality of obtained films in terms of their homogeneity and thickness. Four solutions of 1 g L -1 of chitosan (practical grade, deacetylation > 75%) in acid water were prepared using phosphoric acid, acetic acid (pH 3.2, 3.5, 4), malonic acid (pH 2.7, 3, 3.2) and citric acid monohydrate Cathodic deposition on titanium specimens has been performed in galvanostatic conditions at a current densities of 5mA cm -2 . Motivations and Objectives Electrochemical deposition of chitosan via cathodic polarization has been proposed, based on reduction reactions that lead a local increase of pH resulting in chitosan film deposition on electrically conductive substrates [1, 2]. Here we investigate the effects of different acidic bath at different pH on morphology of deposited coatings, to produce porous films with controlled dimensions. Results and Discussion Indicate shortly the results, and provide preferably one Figure, Table, etc. which allows to evidence the main result of the study. Films deposited from acetic acid bath resulted in larger pores whereas malonic acid and citric acid showed smaller pores; on the contrary, phosphoric acid resulted in a compact and homogeneous film. Moreover, by increasing the pH, an increase in pore interconnection and in chitosan deposition has been observed. Comparing films obtained from acetic acid solution and malonic acid solution (fig 1) a higher amount of deposited chitosan has been obtained from acetic acid solution. Figure 1-chitosan films obtained from: acetic acid solution pH3.2 (a), 3.5(b), 4(c); malonic acid solution pH 2.7 (d), 3 (e) 3.2 (f) An easy tuning of chitosan coating morphology has been obtained by modifying electrolytic bath and current densities. Obtained films show an interesting porosity in terms of dimensions and interconnection. Further studies as self standing scaffolds of the obtained structures are in progress. References [1] A. Simchi et al. Materials Letters 2009;63:2253-6. [2] J. Redepenning et al. JBMR 2003;66A:411-6. Aknowledgments LA and LD thank MIUR - FIRB Futuro in ricerca (Surface-associated selective transfection - SAST, RBFR08XH0H) for the economic support