Effect of deionizing collagen in the properties of biocomposites prepared from the reinforcement of a tung oil-based thermosetting resin

Collagen Type I extracted and purified from waste beef tendons was incorporated with tung oil-based polymer to enhance the thermo-mechanical properties of the resulting composites for potential applications in tissue engineering. A free-radical thermosetting resin system composed of tung oil, n-butyl methacrylate (BMA), divinylbenzene (DVB), and azolectin was reinforced with varying amounts of collagen to form biocomposites. Observations revealed that the introduction of salt during the collagen purification process promotes the development of the characteristic triple-helix structure, as confirmed by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. The focus of this study is to investigate the effect of excess ions in collagen on the thermo-mechanical properties of the composites prepared from it. The composites containing ions and ion-free variants were analyzed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Results suggest that removing sodium ions from collagen negatively affects the thermo-mechanical performance of the composites.