Preparation and Characterization of Biocomposite Based on Chitosan and Biomimetic Hydroxyapatite Derived from Natural Phosphate Rocks

Abstract Highly porous chitosan/hydroxyapatite (CS/HA) biocomposite scaffolds were prepared using the freeze-gelation method. A starting biomimetic HA powder was synthesized by a wet precipitation method using an abundant natural phosphate (NP) ore as raw material. Then, CS/HA scaffolds with different weight ratios (100/0; 90/10; 80/20; 70/30) have been prepared. The used powders and synthesized scaffolds were characterized by XRF, ICP-MS, FTIR, TG-DSC, XRD, SEM, and cell viability. The results showed that the precipitated raw powder was mainly composed of HA and amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) with some traces of Mg2+, SiO42−, Sr2+, Na+ and Fe2+ ions which were usually found in such mineral NP precursors. While the heat treatment of the raw powder at more than 750 °C leads to the formation of Mg-substituted β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCMP). Moreover, the culture of human embryonic kidney cells indicated the non-cytotoxicity of the as-prepared powder. On the other hand, the elaborated CS/HA scaffolds exhibited a highly porous structure with well-interconnected pores and homogeneously dispersed HA particles. The measurement of swelling capacity under physiological conditions revealed that the addition of HA to the CS matrix effectively decreased the swelling percentage. The obtained results suggest that the elaborated CS/HA composites may have effective potential as biocompatible scaffolding materials for bone tissue engineering.