Fabrication of Porous Mg-Zn Scaffold through Modified Replica Method for Bone Tissue Engineering

Biodegradable scaffolds are essential parts in hard tissue engineering. A highly porous magnesium-zinc (Mg-Zn 4 wt.%) scaffold with different Mg-Zn powder to liquid media ratios (50 wt.%, 70 wt.% and 90 wt.%) and different concentrations of ethanol (0 vol.%, 10 vol.%, 20 vol.% and 40 vol.%) were prepared through modified replica method. The mechanical properties were assessed through compression test and the structures of scaffolds were examined by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Results show that, the increase in Mg-Zn powder to liquid media ratio (50 wt.% to 90 wt.%) in ethanol free slurry, increases the thickness of struts (37 µm to 74 µm) and the plateau stress (0.5 MPa to 1.4 MPa). The results obtained from X-ray Diffractometry (XRD) and compression test indicate that consuming ethanol in liquid media of replica, results in higher plateau stress by 46% due to less Mg-water reaction and no formation of Mg(OH)2 in the scaffold. The results of porosity measurement indicate that water-ethanol mixture composition and different solid fractions have no significant effects on true and apparent porosities of the fabricated scaffolds.