Nano-hydroxyapatite/polymer composite porous scaffold materials

To improve the mechanical property and the bioactivity of scaffold materials for bone tissue engineering,  combining the advantages of natural  and synthetic polymers,  the polycaprolactone(PCL)-chitosan(CS) porous scaffold materials were prepared by the solution blend and the phase separation method,  and the scaffold materials were enhanced by infilling with n-HA-polyvinyl-alcohol(n-HA-PVA) composite slurry to prepare n-HA-PVA/PCL-CS composite porous scaffold through a novel method—centrifugal slipcasting technique. The scaffold materials were characterized by scanning electron microscope,  Fourier transform infrared spectroscope,  elemental analysis,  porosity and compressive strength. The results show that PCL-CS scaffold materials have the mutual transfixion porosity structure like a honeycomb. The porosity of the materials can attain 60%～80%. With increasing the content of CS,  the porosity increases and the compressive strength decreases. After filling with HA-PVA composite slurry,  the porosity of n-HA-PVA/PCL-CS composite scaffold materials decreases, but still greater than 60%,  and its compression modulus cn increase to 25.71 MPa.