Effect of gelatin on the in situ formation of Alginate/Hydroxyapatite nanocomposite

Alginate/Hydroxyapatite nanocomposite is a biocompatible and biodegradable multifunctional material suitable for potential biomedical applications such as drug delivery, tissue engineering etc. The in situ method of alginate/hydroxyapatite nanocomposite fabrication usually results in amorphous calcium phosphate. In this study an attempt is made to improve the crystallinity of the hydroxyapatite in the in situ formed nanocomposite. Alginate/Hydroxyapatite nanocomposite beads were fabricated by an in situ method in the presence and absence of gelatin. The composite beads were characterized by Fourier transform IR spectroscopy, XRD and scanning electron microscopy. Gelatin was found to influence the crystallinity of apatite formed and also microstructure of the resulting composite.

► Alginate/Hydroxyapatite nanocomposite was synthesized by the in situ method.
► Crystallinity of HAp in the composite was enhanced by adding gelatin.
► Gelatin modified the microstructure of the composite to laminar pattern.