Biohydroxyapatite Supported Biocomposite Scaffold and Study of Its Biofunctionality

Scaffolds have important roles in the field of tissue engineering for research and application. This study was conducted to fabricate the composite scaffold from polycaprolactone (PCL) using a nonsolvent-induced phase separation method. PCL was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF) to form a homogeneous polymer solution and mixed with the nanoparticles of hydroxyapatite to form a homogeneous mixture. The mixture was then separated in nonsolvent to form the PCL biocomposite scaffolds. Some important factors that affected scaffold formation such as polymer concentration, type and content of nonsolvent, ratios of polymer solution to nonsolvent, and temperature were investigated. Hydroxyapatite was prepared from different biosources such as HAfc, HAfb, HAbb, and HA-Col that were applied to form composite scaffolds. The result showed that 99.5% ethanol was a good nonsolvent to form scaffolds. The pore size and porosity of the composite scaffolds increased with increasing ethanol concentration and exchange temperature while an increase in polymer concentration and HA content caused a decrease in pore size and porosity of the scaffolds. The composite scaffolds were biodegradable in PBS solution and mineralized in SBF solution. The percentage of degradation of the scaffold increased with increasing degradation time and increasing HAfb and HAbb content. However, the degradation percentage decreased with increasing HA-Col content. After 28 days, degradation of 3.8%, 2.3%, 2.5%, and 1.4% occurred for the scaffold corresponding to HAfb, Hafb, HAbb, and HA-Col, respectively. The surface of the composite scaffold containing HA was well mineralized in SBF and conversely, the surface of the scaffold with HA did not form mineral crystalline