Medical applications of ternary nanocomposites based on hydroxyapatite/ytterbium oxide/graphene oxide: potential bone tissue engineering and antibacterial properties

Abstract

The spreading of diseases that cause major bone defects urges the need for fabricating bone substitutes. Hydroxyapatite (HAP)/ytterbium oxide (Yb2O3)/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite is fabricated and studied for its bioactivity, biocompatibility, microhardness, and antimicrobial activity to be used as bone replacement biomaterial. Moreover, the SEM micrographs revealed the improvement in scaffold porosity and biocompatibility, showing a particle size range from 0.1 to 1.5 μm. HAP/Yb2O3/GO shows enhanced roughness parameters in which the roughness average value reached 40.5 nm. Furthermore, the improved osteoblast cells attachment and proliferation obtained by HAP/Yb2O3/GO nanocomposite is confirmed via cell viability test the high value of 97.7 ± 2.1%. HAP/Yb2O3/GO shows antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus that evidenced with inhibition zone 12.5 ± 1 mm and 11.8 ± 1.1 mm, respectively. Besides, HAP/Yb2O3/GO showed the highest microhardness values of 3.4 ± 0.2 GPa.