Cellulose nanocrystals reinforced gelatin/bioactive glass nanocomposite scaffolds for potential application in bone regeneration

Simulating components, precise porous three-dimensional structure and physico-mechanical properties of natural bone have become a vital direction in the development of bone tissue regeneration. This work focused on enhancing mechanical strength of scaffold materials for bone regeneration, a subject of serious attention in its fabrication. Hence, cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), possessing favorable biocompatibility and impressive mechanical properties, was selected to reinforce the nanocomposite scaffolds of gelatin/bioactive glass (BG-Gel) system. The porous composite BG-Gel-CNC was simultaneously constructed by in-situ composite method and freeze-drying technique. The results manifested that the scaffolds incorporated with CNC showed a desirable compressive strength compared to the control, better wettability, which is conducive to better adhesion, growth and proliferation of cells. In addition, appropriate porosity, pore connectivity and biocompatibility were also demonstrated. These findings therefore suggested their potential application to function as effective scaffold materials in bone tissue regeneration.