Influence of Fish Scale-Based Hydroxyapatite on Forcespun Polycaprolactone Fiber Scaffolds

Marine waste byproducts, especially fish scales, have proved to be one of the most prominent sources for developing sustainable materials for various applications including biomedical applications. Hydroxyapatite (HAp), being one of such biomaterials that can be synthesized from the massive fish-based waste, has received plentitude of attention due to its excellent ability to promote cell growth and proliferation. However, understanding the influence of HAp on polymer matrices that are tailored for biomedical applications is still a challenge. This study is intended to develop a sophisticated yet inexpensive method to obtain nonwoven polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibrous scaffolds and analyze the influence of calcium-deficient nanoporous hydroxyapatite (n-HAp) on the thermal, mechanical, and biological properties of these scaffolds. The n-HAp is synthesized using two different types of fish scales, carpa (CA) and pink perch (PP), by calcination followed by nanomilling. The synthesized n-HAp powder is characterized by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The PCL fibrous scaffolds were developed using a novel forcespinning technique with n-HAp as the filler. The morphology of the scaffolds was characterized using SEM and Raman spectroscopy. SEM and TEM results have confirmed the size reduction of the HAp powder after nanomilling. Thermal properties were analyzed using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The major degradation temperature has increased by 3° and was observed to be 398° for 1 wt % filler loading for both carpa and pink perch-derived n-HAp. The increase in filler content has increased the residue left after decomposition and is 4% for 5 wt % filler loading. The crystallinity percent has increased by 7% compared to neat fibers for 1 wt % filler loading. Mechanical properties were tested using tensile tests. The tensile test strength has shown 32% improvement for 1 wt % compared to neat fibers. Cell viability tests were performed using hFOB cells which have shown significant cell growth for a high filler loading of 5 wt %. The results suggest that both CA-n-HAP and PP-n-Hap-incorporated fibrous scaffolds can be used potentially for biomedical applications after careful investigation of the scaffold behavior with longer incubation periods.