Abstract
Cellulose represents a low cost, abundant, and renewable polysaccharide with great versatility; it has a hierarchical structure composed of nanofibers with high aspect ratio (3–4 nm wide, hundreds of μm long). TEMPO-mediated oxidation represents one of the most diffused methods to obtain cellulose nanofibers (CNFs): It is possible to obtain physically crosslinked hydrogels by means of divalent cation addition. The presence of inorganic components, such as calcium phosphates (CaP), can improve not only their mechanical properties but also the bioactivity of the gels. The aim of this work is to design and characterize a TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (TOCNFs) injectable hydrogel embedded with inorganic particles, CaP and CaP-GO, for bone tissue regeneration. Inorganic particles act as physical crosslinkers, as proven by rheological characterization, which reported an increase in mechanical properties. The average load value registered in injection tests was in the range of 1.5–4.4 N, far below 30 N, considered a reasonable injection force upper limit. Samples were stable for up to 28 days and both CaP and CaP-GO accelerate mineralization as suggested by SEM and XRD analysis. No cytotoxic effects were shown on SAOS-2 cells cultured with eluates. This work demonstrated that the physicochemical properties of TOCNFs-based dispersions could be enhanced and modulated through the addition of the inorganic phases, maintaining the injectability and bioactivity of the hydrogels.
Highlights
Hydrogels are macromolecular polymeric materials that are crosslinked to form a 3-D network
The aim of this work is to design and characterize a TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (TOCNFs) injectable hydrogel embedded with inorganic particles, calcium phosphates (CaP) and CaP-GO, for bone tissue regeneration
This work demonstrated that the physicochemical properties of TOCNFs-based dispersions could be enhanced and modulated through the addition of the inorganic phases, maintaining the injectability and bioactivity of the hydrogels
Summary
Hydrogels are macromolecular polymeric materials that are crosslinked to form a 3-D network They are able to retain relatively large volumes of water, without solubilization in an aqueous environment and have assumed increasing interest as scaffolds for tissue regeneration support due to their tunable properties. Even though cellulose by itself does not present specific adhesion sites, this material can be modified by blending, functionalization or by incorporating inorganic particles For all these reasons, cellulose-based biomaterials offer some important advantages and lead to different applications in the biomedical field, such as tissue regeneration and drug delivery, and have been widely studied, demonstrating cellulose biocompatibility, cytocompatibility and mechanical stability [15,20]
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have