title: Electrospun nanostructured fibers of collagen-biomimetic apatite on titanium alloy.
abstract: Titanium and its alloys are currently the mainly used materials to manufacture orthopaedic implants due to their excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. Although these materials are bioinert, the improvement of biological properties (e.g., bone implant contact) can be obtained by the application of a material that mimics the bone extracellular matrix. To this aim, this work describes a new method to produce nanostructured collagen-apatite composites on titanium alloy substrate, by combining electrospinning and biomimetic mineralization. The characterization results showed that the obtained mineralized scaffolds have morphological, structural, and chemical compositional features similar to natural bone extracellular matrix. Finally, the topographic distribution of the chemical composition in the mineralized matrix evaluated by Fourier Transform Infrared microspectroscopy demonstrated that the apatite nanocrystals cover the collagen fibers assembled by the electrospinning.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica "G. Ciamician," Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iafisco
authors.forename: Ismaela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Foltran
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sabbatini
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tosi
authors.forename: Norberto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Roveri