Biomimetic Nylon 6-Baghdadite Nanocomposite Scaffold for Bone Tissue Engineering

Nature creates soft and hard ingredients revealing outstanding properties by adjusting the ordered assembly of simple primarily components from the nano- to the macro-scale. To simulate the important features of native tissue architecture, wide researches are being performed to develop new biomimetic custom-made composite scaffolds for tissue engineering. Here, we introduced a three-dimensional (3D) biomimetic scaffold based on the cuttlefish bone (CB) as a sacrificial template for bone tissue engineering. By combination of nylon 6 (N6), various amounts of baghdadite (BG) nanopowder and sacrificial template CB, a novel nanocomposite scaffolds was successfully developed with hierarchical microstructure and open pores in the range size in long and minor axis of 153-253 μm and 39-70 μm, respectively, depending on the BG content. In addition, incorporation of BG improved the mechanical properties of the scaffolds. Noticeably, the compressive strength and compressive modulus enhanced from 0.47 ± 0.05 to 1.41 ± 0.25 MPa and from 3.16 ± 0.14 to 6.23 ± 0.3 MPa, respectively. Moreover, results demonstrated that the incorporation of BG nanoparticles in the N6 matrix significantly improved bioactivity in simulated body fluid and increased degradation rate of N6 scaffold. Additionally, 3D nanocomposite scaffolds disclosed meaningfully excellent cellular responses. It is envisioned that the provided N6-BG nanocomposite scaffold might be a promising candidate for bone tissue engineering applications.