Development, characterization and biocompatibility of chondroitin sulfate/poly(vinyl alcohol)/bovine bone powder porous biocomposite

•ChS/PVA/BBP biocomposite was designed through cyclic freeze-thaw method.•The biocomposite showed high porosity, water uptaking and biodegradability.•BBP is a low-cost source of the bioactive compounds; hydroxyapatite and collagen.•ChS/PVA/BBP biocomposites are non-cytotoxic and did not cause inflammatory processes.•Tests showed that the biocomposites can be applied in skin tissue regeneration.

Chondroitin sulfate (ChS), a sulfated glycosaminoglycan, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and bovine bone powder (BBP) were blended to form a novel eco-friendly biocomposite through cyclic freeze-thawing under mild conditions. The systematic investigation reveals that the content of BBP has a remarkable effect on the pore size, porosity, mechanical and liquid uptake properties and biodegradability. At 10 wt.% BBP the biocomposite exhibited enhanced mechanical properties and biodegradability rate as compared to the pristine sample. Further, different properties of the biocomposite can be tailored according to the content of BBP. In vitro assays showed that ChS/PVA-BBP does not exert cytotoxicity against healthy cells. In vivo and ex vivo experiments revealed that ChS/PVA-BBP biocomposites are biocompatibility materials without exert pro-inflammatory responses. The biocomposite was completely biodegraded and bioresorbed after 15 days of treatment. Taken together, BBP is a low-cost source of hydroxyapatite and collagen, which are insurance. All these results suggest that the biocomposite designed in this study is a promising biomaterial for potential skin tissue engineering.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (224KB)Download full-size image