title: Synthesis and Characterization of Nanodiamond Reinforced Chitosan for Bone Tissue Engineering.
abstract: Multifunctional tissue scaffold material nanodiamond (ND)/chitosan (CS) composites with different diamond concentrations from 1 wt % to 5 wt % were synthesized through a solution casting method. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the composites were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and nanoindentation. Compared with pristine CS, the addition of ND resulted in a significant improvement of mechanical properties, including a 239%, 276%, 321%, 333%, and 343% increase in Young's modulus and a 68%, 96%, 114%, 118%, and 127% increase in hardness when the ND amount was 1 wt %, 2 wt %, 3 wt %, 4 wt %, and 5 wt %, respectively. The strong interaction between ND surface groups and the chitosan matrix plays an important role in improving mechanical properties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada. yus441@mail.usask.ca.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada. qiaoqin.yang@usask.ca.
authors.forename: Qiaoqin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada. wanghaidong.wang@usask.ca.
authors.forename: Haidong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: DSC; MTT; chitosan; nanodiamond; nanoindentation; scaffold