Effect of carbon based fillers on properties of Chitosan/PVA/βTCP based composite scaffold for bone tissue engineering

Bone tissue engineering has been area of substantial research since few decades but still a gap exists when it comes to strength and healing tendency of biomaterials with respect to age group, accidental complications etc. Many researches are yet in progress to design a perfect material for bone regeneration. Our attempt in the present study is to develop a porous hybrid material based on Chitosan(CS)/Polyvinyl Alcohol(PVA)/Beta Tricalcium Phosphate (beta-TCP) composite matrix incorporated with various carbon based fillers i.e. Graphene Oxide(GO, Reduced Graphene Oxide (RGO), Carbon Nanotube(CNT). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results of fabricated scaffolds revealed nearly threefold increase in pore diameter when the concentration of each carbon filler incorporated in CS/PVA/beta TCP increased to 1%. Addition of fillers also demonstrated significant mineral depositions on samples when treated with SBF. The Ca/P ratio of deposited minerals on some scaffolds was found near 1.67, the stoichiometric ratio of natural bone apatite. Increase in carbon filler concentration in CS/PVA/beta TCP matrix also increased the compressive modulus of scaffold. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.