New composite materials based on alginate and hydroxyapatite as potential carriers for ascorbic acid.

The purpose of this article was to obtain prolonged drug release systems in which the drug (ascorbic acid) to reach intact the target area in an environment that is able to control the administration of the active component by chemical or physiological pathways. As support for drug, it was used a material based on calcium phosphate - hydroxyapatite and a natural polymer - alginate, since it is one of the most investigated composite materials for medical applications due to its positive response to biological testing: bioactivity, biocompatibility and osteoconductivity. Three composites with different ratios between alginate and hydroxyapatite were obtained: (a) Alg/HA/AA 1:1 (the mass ratio between Alg and HA being of 1:1), (b) Alg/HA/AA 1:3 (Alg:HA mass ratio of 1:3) and (c) Alg/HA/AA 3:1 (Alg:HA mass ratio of 3:1). The synthesized materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and to observe the drug release process, UV-vis spectroscopy.