Cellulose nano-dispersions enhanced by ultrasound assisted chemical modification drive osteoblast proliferation and differentiation in PVA/HA bone tissue engineering scaffolds

To develop a biological bone tissue scaffold with uniform pore size and good cell adhesion was both challenging and imperative. We prepared modified cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) dispersants (K-PCNCs) by ultrasound-assisted alkylation modification. Subsequently, nano-hydroxyapatite (HC-K) was synthesized using K-PCNCs as a dispersant and composited with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to prepare the scaffold using the ice template method. The results showed that the water contact angle and degree of substitution (135°, 1.53) of the K-PCNCs were highest when the ultrasound power was 450 W and the time was 2 h. The dispersion of K-PCNCs prepared under this condition was optimal. SEM showed that the pore distribution of the composite scaffolds was more homogeneous than the PVA scaffold. The porosity, equilibrium swelling rate, and mechanical properties of the composite scaffolds increased and then decreased with the increase of HC-K content, and reached the maximum values (56.1 %, 807.7 %, and 0.085 ± 0.004 MPa) at 9 % (w/w) of HC-K content. Cell experiments confirmed scaffold has good cytocompatibility and mineralization capacity. The ALP activity reached 1.71 ± 0.25 (ALP activity/mg protein). In conclusion, the scaffolds we developed have good biocompatibility and mechanical properties and have great potential in promoting bone defect repair.