Preparation and Characterization of Collagen–Hydroxyapatite Composite Used for Bone Tissue Engineering Scaffold

In this study, highly porous collagen-HA scaffolds were prepared by solid-liquid phase separation method. Microstructure of the composites was characterized by SEM, TEM and XRD. The results show that collagen-HA scaffolds are porous with three-dimension interconnected fiber microstructure, pore sizes are 50-150 microm, and HA particles are dispersed evenly among collagen fiber. Compared with pure collagen, the mechanical property of collagen-HA composite improves significantly. To gain further insight into cell growth throughout 3D scaffolds, the cell proliferation and attachment on the scaffold in vitro was investigated. The collagen-HA composite has good biocompatibility, and adding HA does not affect the histocompatibility of the scaffold materials. The porous collagen-HA composite is suitable as scaffold used for bone tissue engineering.