Electrodeposition of hyaluronic acid and composite films

The electrodeposition method has been developed for the fabrication of hyaluronic acid films from sodium hyaluronate solutions. The amount of the deposited material increased with increasing deposition time, resulting in the formation of 0·1–3 μm thick films. The co-deposition of hyaluronic acid and hydroxyapatite (HA) resulted in the fabrication of novel nanocomposite films by electrodeposition. In the proposed method, hyaluronate provided electrosteric stabilisation and charging of HA particles. Deposit composition can be varied by the variation of HA concentration in the sodium hyaluronate solutions. The method enabled the formation of composite films of different thicknesses in the range of 0·1–100 μm. Obtained films were studied by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Composite films showed corrosion protection of stainless steel substrates in Ringer's physiological solutions. The mechanism of deposition is discussed.