Physicochemical Evaluation of methylcellulose- containing composite scaffolds incorporated with calcium phosphate fibers

Organic-inorganic porous scaffolds hold a great potential in bone tissue engineering since they mimic the structure of bone. The aim of this work was to develop a porous chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose scaffold reinforced with whiskerlike calcium phosphate fibers. The fibers were synthesized by homogenous precipitation method and were characterized by XRD, FTIR, and SEM. Fibers contained two phases of hydroxyapatite and monetite, and they were in the range of 20- 60 μm in length. Chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose (CS/CMC) and chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose/calcium phosphate fibers (CS/CMC/CaP) were produced by freeze drying method and characterized by SEM and FTIR. Both scaffolds showed a desirable microstructure with high porosity and interconnected pores in range of 100-200 μm. The addition of fibers had slightly decreased the pore size with no adverse effect on microstructure. FTIR analysis proved the formation of a polyelectrolyte network between chitosan and CMC. The obtained data suggests that these composite scaffolds are potential candidates for bone tissue engineering.

Keywords:

bone , scaffold , fibers , carboxymethyl cellulose , chitosan