Hybrid materials for bone tissue engineering from biomimetic growth of hydroxiapatite on cellulose nanowhiskers

•Cellulose nanowhiskers (CNWs) are used to drive hydroxyapatite (HAp) growth.•Negatively charged surface groups, sulfate and phosphate, have positive effect on the HAp properties.•Fibroblast growth and proliferation on hybrid materials demonstrated the hybrid materials are compatible and bioactive.•Mineralization generates samples with better bioactivity than physical mixture method.•Hybrid materials of CNW and HAp can provide potential material for bone tissue engineering.

Cellulose nanowhiskers (CNWs) with different surface composition were used to generate the biomimetic growth hydroxyapatite (HAp). Hybrids materials primarily consist of CNWs with HAp content below 24%. CNWs were produced by different inorganic acid hydrolyses to generate cellulose particles with surface groups to induce HAp mineralization. In the present study, we evaluate the use of CNWs prepared from hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid. HAp growth was obtained from the biomimetic method using a simulated body fluid concentration of 1.5 M (SBF). The sulfonate and phosphonate groups on the CNW surface have a direct impact on the nucleation and growth of HAp. HAp/CNW were also compared with the physical mixture method using HAp nanoparticles prepared by chemical precipitation. The bioactivity and biocompatibility of the hybrid materials were assessed by cell viability studies using fibroblast cells (L929). The materials obtained from the biomimetic method have superior biocompatibility/bioactivity compared to the material synthesized by the wet chemical precipitation method with an incubation period of 24 h.