Abstract
Research into artificial bone scaffolds has increased substantially over the past decade as current solutions have significant limitations. Inspired by mineral hydroxyapatite (HAP) in natural bone, this study developed a facile in situ HAP coating on cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) matrix followed by a crosslinking reaction. By changing the amount of CNCs added to a simulated body fluid (SBF), HAP content in the nanocomposite could be controlled between 0 and 40.1%, with a HAP coating thickness of ∼10 nm. Moreover, CNCs/HAP was crosslinked with poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic acid) (PMVEMA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) to enhance its water stability and mechanical properties. FTIR and NMR analysis revealed that crosslinking happened via an esterification reaction between CNCs, HAP, PMVEMA, and PEG. Compression strength of the scaffolds showed a result as high as 41.8 MPa, almost 20 times of scaffold prepared by just mixing CNCs and HAP. Further investigations revealed that this scaffold was highly porous (as high as 91.0%) and lightweight (with a density between 60-70 mg/cm3). Interestingly, this composite showed good biocompatibility as it can stabilize BSA protein, suggesting a promising material as a bone scaffold.
