Fabrication and characterization of novel nano- and micro-HA/PCL composite scaffolds using a modified rapid prototyping process

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P>Novel three-dimensional scaffolds consisting of nano- and microsized hydroxyapatite (HA)/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) composite were fabricated using a modified rapid-prototyping (RP) technique for bone tissue engineering applications. The size of the nano-HA ranged from 20 to 90 nm, whereas that of the micro-HA ranged from 20 to 80 μm. The scaffold macropores were well interconnected, with a porosity of 72–73% and a pore size of 500 μm. The compressive modulus of the nano-HA/PCL and micro-HA/PCL scaffolds was 3.187 ± 0.06 and 1.345 ± 0.05 MPa, respectively. The higher modulus of the nano-HA/PCL composite (n-HPC) was to be likely caused by a dispersion strengthening effect. The attachment and proliferation of MG-63 cells on n-HPC were better than that on the micro-HA/PCL composite (m-HPC) scaffold. The n-HPC was more hydrophilic than the m-HPC because of the greater surface area of HA exposed to the scaffold surface. This may give rise to better cell attachment and proliferation. Bioactive n-HA/PCL composite scaffold prepared using a modified RP technique has a potential application in bone tissue engineering. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2009</P>