Ecofriendly production of bioactive tissue engineering scaffolds derived from egg- and sea-shells

Abstract

Managing the vast amounts of eggshell and sea-shell waste that is produced globally each year is becoming very problematic as this material is simply disposed of in landfills. This waste results in odor production and microbial growth directly leading to environmental stresses. Transforming this waste into valuable biomaterials pose significant environmental and economic advantages as discarded waste have materials that can be utilized. The objective of this work was to develop inexpensive, bioactive hydroxyapatite-based scaffolds for tissue engineering applications by using an eco-friendly and sustainable approach. Engineering nano hydroxyapatite (EnHA) was derived from chicken eggshell and clam sea-shell waste by using an energy efficient microwave assisted wet chemical precipitation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to analyze the biomaterials. Results show that the particles are highly crystalline hydroxyapatite (HA) with acicular shapes and within nanometer size ranges. The chemical compositions match exactly that of naturally occurring HA. The EnHA infused polymer scaffolds were fabricated using slurry-based solution 3D printing techniques. The slurry solutions composed of 70 wt% EnHA and 30 wt% Polycarpolactone (PCL). The XRD, SEM, EDS, and in vitro cell studies were conducted to determine the ability of the scaffolds to support cell adhesion and maintain viability. The scaffolds supported cellular attachment and maintenance when observed over a period of several days, suggesting their potential for future tissue regeneration research and applications.