Evaluation of physical and mechanical properties of B-tri-calcium phosphate/poly-3-hydroxybutyrate nanocomposite scaffold for bone tissue engineering application

One of the major challenges facing researchers of tissue engineering is the sca old design with desirable physical and mechanical properties for growth and proliferation of cells and tissue formation. In this paper, rstly, -tricalcium phosphate ( -TCP) nanopowders with particle size of 50-70 nm were synthesized using a simple sol-gel route with calcium nitrate and potassium dihydrogenphosphate as calcium and phosphorusprecursors, respectively. Then, the porous ceramic sca old containing 40, 50, and 60 wt% of n -TCP was prepared by the polyurethane sponge replication method. The sca ffolds were coated with P3HB for 30 sec and 1 min in order to increase the sca old's mechanical properties. XRD, XRF, SEM, TEM, and FT-IR were used in order to study the phase and element structure, morphology, particle size, and determination of functional groups respectively. Based on the results of compressive strength and porosimetry tests, the most appropriate type of sca old is 50 wt% of n -TCP immersed for 30 sec in P3HB with 75% porosity in 200-600 m, with a compressive strength of 1.09 MPa and a compressive modulus of 33 MPa, which can be utilized in bone tissue engineering.