Synthesis and Characterization of Chitosan-Hydroxyapatite Composite for Bone Graft Applications

In the current work chitosan-hydroxyapatite composites were synthesized using the method of co-precipitation for bone grafting. The composite samples were characterized using SEM, EDS and UTM. The composites showed a good Ca:P ratio of 2.10, indicating a sufficient level of osteoconductive of the composites. The EDS peaks showed a strong presence of carbon, oxygen, calcium and phosphorous with insignificant impurities. The UTM tests revealed compressive modulus of 80 MPa desired for various human bones. Also, grey rational analysis was used to optimize the process parameters. The results thus obtained show an improvement over previously reported results of bone grafts using other materials and procedures. Thus, the work can serve as a viable alternative to traditional bone grafting techniques, such as allografts and autografts, which face problems of biocompatibility and affordability.