Abstract
Nano-hydroxyapatite was incorporated into polymer matrix of Dextran/Chitosan to achieve a novel composite scaffold by freeze drying technique. The synthesized composite scaffolds were recognized by different performances such as: X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results revealed the complex formation between dextran and chitosan with an excellent dispersion of nHA inside the polymer matrix. The SEM images showed the presence of interconnected pore structure inside the scaffolds. The porosity of the composites was found to decrease from 82% to 67% by adding nanohydroxyapatite to the polymer matrix of Dextran/Chitosan. The mechanical properties of the scaffolds were measured by compression test. The obtained results verified that the presence of nHA can noticeably enhance young’s modulus and compressive strength of the composite scaffolds. All the obtained results essentially recommend that these composites can be a good candidate for bone tissue engineering applications.
Highlights
Nanocomposites composed of biopolymeric matrices and bioceramic fillers are considered as attractive alternatives for conventional materials to be used as scaffolds for transplantation of bone reconstruction
These properties as well as its biochemical symmetry with the ECM make it suitable for using as scaffolds in tissue engineering. It is characterized by its hydrophilic nature and inability to supply a surface that supports cell adhesion and spreading, which is essential for cell production and osteogenesis in bone tissue engineering applications[3]
Kashiwazaki et al.[8] prepared porous chitosan/hydroxyapatite (HA) nanocomposites scaffold by the co-precipitation and porogen (NaCl) leaching method (60–87% porosity, pore diameters 100–200 μm)
Summary
Nanocomposites composed of biopolymeric matrices and bioceramic fillers are considered as attractive alternatives for conventional materials (e.g., autografts, allografts, and metallic orthopedic biomaterials) to be used as scaffolds for transplantation of bone reconstruction. Dextran (Dex) is a neutral, hydrophilic, biocompatible and biodegradable polysaccharide with an α-(1,6) pyranose ring linkage, that is formed by different bacterial strains from sucrose via the effect of dextransucrose enzyme. These properties as well as its biochemical symmetry with the ECM make it suitable for using as scaffolds in tissue engineering. Chitosan (CS) is a naturalistic polymer comprising glucosamine and N-acetylglucosamine resulted from the deacetylation of chitin[6] Since it is degraded by the enzymes of human body, creating non-toxic side products, it is extensively applied in tissue engineering concepts[7]. Et al.[1] equipped porous chitosan scaffolds with excellent microstructure in several tissue-relevant geometries by freeze-drying method. Here we first combined nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) into Dex-CS to achieve a novel composite scaffold of Dex-CS/nHA by freeze-drying method
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