Investigation on the structure and mechanical properties of chitosan/gelatin/graphene oxide nanocomposite for tissueengineering

Tissue engineering involves fabrication of three-dimensional scaffolds to support cellular in-growth and proliferation. Ideally, rationally designed tissue engineering scaffolds promote natural wound healing and regeneration. Tissue engineered constructs must exhibit tissue-like functional properties, including mechanical and biologicalbehavior, comparable to the native tissues they are intended to replace. Recently, chitosan(CS)/gelatin(Gel) scaffolds have gained much attention in various tissue engineering applications. Chitosan and Gelatin are biocompatible and biodegradable polymers for potential use in tissue engineering. In this work, chitosan/gelatin/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite scaffolds were prepared by blending chitosan and gelatin with graphene oxide. The corresponding scaffolds were prepared through freeze-drying method. The prepared graphene oxide was characterized using SEM, XRD and FT-IR. The prepared nanocomposite scaffolds were characterized by SEM studiesand it was found that the scaffolds are highly and homogeneously porous . In addition, biomineralization, shape retention and mechanical properties of the composite scaffolds were studied. According to the results ofthe SEM, all scaffolds showed biomineralization ability in-vitro. The presence of graphene oxide in the CS/Gel/GO scaffold increased biomineralization and mechanical properties. Results showed that the scaffold of CS/Gel/GO is a good case for tissue engineering

Keywords:

Tissue engineering , Scaffold , Chitosan , Gelatin , Graphene oxide