Silver-Loaded Biomimetic Hydroxyapatite Grafted Poly(caprolactone) Composite Nanofibers

Abstract

Wereportonpoly(caprolactone)(PCL)containingbiomimetichydroxyapatite(HA)and hydroxyapatite-silver(HA-Ag)compositenanofiberspreparedviaanelectrospinningprocessforthebiomedicalapplications.Themorphology,structureandthermalpropertiesofthePCL,PCL/HAandPCL/HA-Agcompositenanofiberswerecharacterizedbyscanningelectronmicroscopy(SEM),transmissionelectronmicroscopy(TEM),energydispersiveX-ray(EDX)spectroscopy,X-raydiffraction (XRD)andthermogravimetry(TGA).SEMimagesrevealedthatthenanofiberswerewell-orientedandincorporatedtheHA-Agnanoparticleswell.Theadhesion,viabilityandproliferationpropertiesofcompositenanofibersanddifferentiationofosteoblastwerecarriedouttostudytheinvitrocellcompatibilityofthePCL/HA/HA-Agcompositenanofibers.OurresultsshowedthatpristinePCLandPCL/HAcompositenanofibersscaffoldcanbeutilizedfortheboneregenerationapplications,however,PCL/HA-Agcompositenanofibersresultsinmildcytotoxiceffecttohumancells.