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Morphology, mechanical properties, and mineralization of rigid thermoplastic polyurethane/hydroxyapatite scaffolds for bone tissue applications: effects of fabrication approaches and hydroxyapatite size

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Abstract

Rigid thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)/hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffolds were prepared with micro HA (mHA) and nano HA (nHA) particles, respectively, via the thermally induced phase separation method. The effects of solvent and co-solvent, addition of sodium chloride (NaCl) porogen, and HA particle size were studied together with the morphology, compressive properties, and mineralization behavior of the scaffolds. Depending on the solvent, co-solvent, or porogen used, different porous structures were produced. In particular, a ladder-like morphology was obtained when dioxane (Di) was used as the solvent, whereas an interconnected porous structure was obtained by using dioxane and deionized water (DiW) as co-solvents. Rectangular pores with interconnected channels on the pore walls were achieved by using NaCl crystals as porogens. The TPU/nHA scaffolds showed stronger compressive properties than the TPU/mHA scaffolds and the pure TPU scaffolds. The scaffolds prepared using dioxane and water as co-solvents exhibit the greatest compressive modulus. Furthermore, TPU scaffolds with nHA particles had the ability to form bone apatite when soaked in simulated body fluid (SBF). After being soaked in SBF for 3 weeks, the weight percentage of formed apatite in the TPU/nHA-DiW scaffold was 9.2 %wt of the initial TPU content. Preliminary cytotoxicity tests were conducted using NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells. The high survival rate of these cells and the mineralization behavior suggest biocompatibility and high potential of these composites being used in bone tissue engineering applications.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, the China Scholarship Council, and the financial support of the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51073061, 21174044), the Guangdong Nature Science Foundation (No. S2013020013855), the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities (No. 2011ZZ0011), and the 973 Program (2012CB025902) in China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, 53715, USA

    Hao-Yang Mi, Xin Jing & Lih-Sheng Turng

  2. National Engineering Research Center of Novel Equipment for Polymer Processing, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Hao-Yang Mi, Xin Jing & Xiang-Fang Peng

  3. Department of Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Max R. Salick

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Travis M. Cordie

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Hao-Yang Mi, Xin Jing & Lih-Sheng Turng

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Correspondence to Lih-Sheng Turng.

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Mi, HY., Jing, X., Salick, M.R. et al. Morphology, mechanical properties, and mineralization of rigid thermoplastic polyurethane/hydroxyapatite scaffolds for bone tissue applications: effects of fabrication approaches and hydroxyapatite size. J Mater Sci 49, 2324–2337 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7931-3

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