title: In situ fabrication of nano-hydroxyapatite in a macroporous chitosan scaffold for tissue engineering.
abstract: A chitosan (CS)/hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanohybrid scaffold with high porosity and homogeneous nanostructure was fabricated through a bionic treatment combined with thermally-induced phase separation. The nano-HAP particles were formed in situ in the scaffold at room temperature instead of mechanically mixing the powders with the polymer component. The scaffold was macroporous with a pore size of about 100-136 microm. The nano-sized HAP particles with diameters of 90-200 nm were scattered homogeneously in the interactively connective pores. Both the improvement of the compressive modulus and yield strength of the scaffolds showed that the in situ nano-HAP particles reinforced the microstructure of the scaffold. The in vitro bioactivity study carried out in simulated body fluid (SBF) indicated good mineralization activity. The crystallization phenomenon suggested that the nano-HAP particles have positive impacts on directing apatite crystallization in the scaffold and led to the good bioactivity of the nanohybrid scaffold.
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, PR China.
authors.forename: Jing Di
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yingjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D017886:Durapatite / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D016062:Porosity; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D048271:Chitosan; D017886:Durapatite