Bone Regeneration Using Bio-Nanocomposite Tissue Reinforced with Bioactive Nanoparticles for Femoral Defect...

In recent years, the method of constructing and evaluating the properties of polymer nanocomposite and bioactive ceramics in tissue engineering such as biocompatible scaffolds was studied by some researchers.

In this study, the bio-nanocomposite scaffolds of Chitosan (CS)-Hydroxyapatite (HA)-Wllastonite (WS), incorporated with 0, 10, 20 and 30 wt% of zirconium were produced using a freeze-drying method. Also, the phase structure and morphology of scaffolds were investigated using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). By analyzing the SEM images, the porosity of the scaffolds was observed in the normal bone area of the body. In the next step, bioactivity and biodegradability tests of the scaffolds were carried out. Due to the presence of hydrophilic components and the high-water absorption capacity of these materials, the bio-nanocomposite scaffolds were able to absorb water properly. After that, the mechanical properties of the scaffolds were studied.

The mechanical test results showed that the preparation of reinforced bionanocomposites containing 10 wt% of zirconium presented better properties compared to incorporated bio-nanocomposites with different loadings of zirconium.

According to MTT assay results, the prepared scaffolds did not have cytotoxicity at different concentrations of scaffold extracts. Consequently, the investigated scaffold can be beneficial in bone tissue engineering applications because of its similarity to natural bone structure and its proper porosity.