Fabrication of interpenetrate chitosan: bioactive glass, using dense gas CO2

Success of bone tissue engineering relies on using bioactive scaffolds with ideal pore morphology which can mimic the properties of the natural extracellular matrix (ECM). The objective of this study was to interpenetrate bioactive glass components throughout the three dimensional (3D) structure of the chitosan scaffold to increase the average pore size of the scaffold and also the osteoconductivity and osteoinductivity of the fabricated scaffold. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the microsturcture of the hydrogel. The results of this study demonstrated that the average pore size in the hydrogel was increased significantly (p<0.05) from 97 ± 44 μm to 150 ± 24 μm by increasing the BG concentration from 0 wt% to 40 wt%. This effect might be due to the interaction between ceramic and chitosan. The composite hydrogel fabricated swell in water and has high potential to be used for bone tissue engineering applications; bioactive glass can substantially improve bioactivity of the bone tissue engineering scaffolds However, further studies are required to investigate the effect of BG on the biocompatibility of the scaffolds. In addition, in vitro cell studies are also required to confirm the suitability of the fabricated scaffold for bone tissue engineering.