Physico-chemical and biological responses for hydroxyapatite/ZnO/graphene oxide nanocomposite for biomedical utilization

Abstract

Bioceramics, graphene oxide, and metal oxide-based biomaterials are intriguing prospects for hard tissue biomedical applications. Combining hydroxyapatite (HAP), graphene oxide (GO), and Zinc oxide (ZnO) to fabricate HAP/ZnO/GO nanocomposite presented a noticeable improvement in bioactivity biocompatibility and antimicrobial activity. The crystal lattice changes and structural arrangement of these nanocomposites are examined using XRD, TEM, and SEM. Moreover, the GO nanosheets, HAP, and ZnO bonding are reported in FTIR and XPS spectra. The TEM micrographs showed the nanocomposite structural alteration and revealed the uniformity of HAP and ZnO distribution into GO nanosheets with 10 nm in diameter and length of 25 nm. Furthermore, the SEM scan explained the porosity and integrated structure that showed a size of 0.3–1.4 μm. HAP/ZnO/GO roughness average reached 40.2 nm. The cell viability test for the nanocomposite revealed a high value of 99.5 ± 1.5%. The antibacterial property of HAP/ZnO/GO was confirmed with the reported inhibition zone of 20.4 ± 1 mm and 15.3 ± 1.1 mm against E. coli and S. aureus. Herein, combining HAP and ZnO with GO nanosheets alters morphological features and enhances roughness parameters of the fabricated nanocomposite. Besides structural porosity, cell adhesion and bioactivity improved. The resulting porous reinforced nanocomposite that showed excellent antibacterial activity is a biomaterial of interest in bone replacement utilization.