Preparation and characterization of polycaprolactone/chitosan-g-polycaprolactone/hydroxyapatite electrospun nanocomposite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

Chitosan (CS) and poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) are two most usable polymers in biomedical applications. In this study, chitosan has been modified and incorporated with poly (ε-caprolactone) to fabricate bone tissue engineering scaffold. Moreover, hydroxyapatite nanoparticles were added to enhance bioactivity and mechanical properties of scaffold. Bulk and fibrous comparative results showed significant effect of fiber diameter and distribution on mechanical properties. Moreover, the incorporation of chitosan-g-poly (ε-caprolactone) (CS-g-PCL) significantly decreases fiber diameter of pure PCL scaffold. Furthermore, both CS-g-PCL and nHA enhance mineralization and degradation of the scaffold soaked in simulated body fluid (SBF) and phosphate buffered saline (PBS), respectively. In vitro cytocompatibility assays also confirmed high cell viability and proliferation on the samples. Taken together, the results suggest that the microfabricated nanocomposite scaffolds could be used in bone tissue engineering.