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In Vitro Mineralization Study of Chitosan/Carbon Nanotubes Scaffolds: Effect of Mineralization Cycles
Author(s) -
Horn Marilia M.,
Amaro Martins Virginia C.,
De Guzzi Plepis Ana M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.201600148
Subject(s) - mineralization (soil science) , crystallite , calcium , nucleation , scanning electron microscope , phosphate , chemical engineering , carbon nanotube , chemistry , apatite , thermogravimetry , chitosan , nuclear chemistry , materials science , mineralogy , inorganic chemistry , composite material , crystallography , organic chemistry , nitrogen , engineering
In this study, bioactive scaffolds of chitosan/carbon nanotubes with calcium phosphate deposits with potential use in bone tissue regeneration were developed. Alternate mineralization processes using 1, 2, or 3 cycles are performed to investigate the nucleation of phosphate salts in the scaffolds. Characterization is carried out by thermogravimetry (TG), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X‐ray diffraction (XRD). TG curves confirmed that the number of mineralization cycles influence the amount of nucleated inorganic phosphate with an increase of up to 22%. As observed by SEM, the quantity and the size of pores decreased as a function of the number of mineralization cycles. The nucleated mineral is spherical in shape and with an average size of 0.73 ± 0.10 μm. An increase in the mineralization cycles promoted an increase in the quantity of calcium phosphate and the Ca/P ratio also showed dependence with the mineralization cycles. As observed by XRD, calcium phosphate deposited in scaffolds is calcium deficient hydroxyapatite. The crystallite size is estimated using the Sherreŕs equation as being of 15 ± 1 nm.