Preparation of Diatom-Doped Bio-Nanocomposite Materials for Bone Tissue Scaffolds

Abstract

Naturally sourced materials have an important place in bone tissue engineering due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. Non-diatom, diatom-doped chitosan/hydroxyapatite (CS/HAp) and collagen/chitosan/hydroxyapatite (Col/CS/HAp) as three-dimensional tissue scaffolds were produced by freeze drying technique. It was determined by SEM analysis that CS/HAp, CS/HAp/Di, Col/CS/ HAp, Col/CS/HAp/Di scaffolds have 160 μm, 130 μm, 390 μm and 340 μm pores, respectively. The diatoms in the structure have approximately 9-16 μm in length, 8-20 μm in diameter and nanopore sizes of 260-330 nm. Cell culture studies were performed using the 3T3 cell line to study the nontoxic nature of biocomposite scaffolds that support cell attachment and proliferation. The cells in the scaffolds without diatom proliferate in a reticulated manner, whereas in the scaffolds containing diatom the cells were wrapped around the scaffold like a cover. The suggested scaffolds have the potential to meet the basic requirements in biocompatibility, cytocompatibility and interconnected pore structure.