Biopolymer-based polycaprolactone-hydroxyapatite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

This work synthesized Hydroxyapatite (HA) from common cockle shells using a precipitation method and fabricated nanofiber scaffolds of polycaprolactone (PCL)-HA composites with combinations of several polymers (i.e., gelatin, chitosan, and collagen) using electrospinning. The synthesized HA had a small agglomerate shape, solid structure, and few interconnected micropores. Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) analysis revealed that the synthesized HA exhibited a Ca/P molar ratio of 1.68. All nanofiber samples were nontoxic with cell viability values of 70.46-91.78%. The PCL-HA-Gelatin nanofiber was the best mechanical properties of the scaffold with the high values of tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and breaking-point elongation at (9.80 +/- 1.36) MPa, (0.81 +/- 0.09) MPa, and (61.5 +/- 7.75) %, respectively. There was no significant difference in the average cell viability of the samples. Nanofiber scaffolds of PCL-HA polymer have the potential for bone tissue engineering applications by satisfying their mechanical property and cytotoxicity assay criteria.