Effects of sodium hypochlorite on Agave tequilana Weber bagasse fibers used to elaborate cyto and biocompatible hydrogel films

• Agave hydrogel films were obtained without chemical crosslinking.
• The obtained agave hydrogel films showed better cytocompatibility than the tissue culture dish used as control.
• The chemical treatment of de agave fibers affects cytocompatibility of pulp hydrogel film.

Waste bagasse of Agave tequilana-Weber fibers treated with sodium hydroxide was used to elaborate hydrogel films. The bagasse was offered in an alternative use for the preparation of hydrogel films by phase inversion method without crosslinking and further purification of cellulose. The effect on the properties of the obtained films was studied when the chemical treatment of the agave fibers was changed. It was found that the resultant hydrogels showed increment in tensile from 40 N/mm2 to 56 N/mm2 with the increase of sodium hypochlorite concentration from 1 to 10 vol.%, respectively. With regard to biocompatibility properties of the hydrogel films, platelet adhesion, clotting time and protein adsorption were investigated. Analysis of the morphology of adherent NIH3T3 fibroblast indicated that the projected cell area, aspect ratio and long axis gradually increased with the increment of sodium hypochlorite content in the agave treatment. It was presented that the chemical treatment affects cell adhesion and morphology and lignin content remains in the brown fibers.