Preparation and Research of Porous Hydroxyapatite Whiskers/KGM Composite Bone Scaffolds

Sol-gel method and freeze-drying method were adopted to prepare the porous HAPw/KGM composite bone scaffolds and ammonia was used as a crosslinking agent. The porosity, average pore diameter, compressive strength and degradation rate in vitro were measured according to the related standard. The curves of each factor and lever affecting comprehensive properties were drew through the orthogonal design L9 (3(4)) experiment. SEM and XRD were applied in characterization. The results show that the optimal preparation program of the composite scaffolds is KGM (2g), HAPw (4.5g), ammonia (0.1 ml) and the freeze temperature (-20 degrees C); the prepared scaffolds are porous three-dimensional network structures; the porosity of optimal scaffold is more than 90%; the average pore diameter is between 200-300 mu m; the compressive strength is about 0.8Mpa and the degradation rate is about 50% within 9 weeks.