Biocomposite scaffolds containing chitosan/alginate/nano-silica for bone tissue engineering

•Scaffolds containing chitosan, alginate and nano-silica wereprepared.•They were characterized by SEM, FT-IR and XRD analyses.•Addition of nano-silica improved the in vitro biological features of scaffolds.•The scaffolds were found to be non-toxic to mammaliancells.

Bone tissue engineering is a promising alternative method for treating bone loss by a combination of biomaterials and cells. In this study, we fabricated biocomposite scaffolds by blending chitosan (CS), alginate (Alg) and nano-silica (nSiO2), followed by freeze drying. The prepared scaffolds (CS/Alg, CS/Alg/nSiO2) were characterized by SEM, FT-IR and XRD analyses. In vitro studies such as swelling, biodegradation, biomineralization, protein adsorption and cytotoxicity were also carried out. The scaffolds possessed a well-defined porous architecture with pore sizes varying from 20 to 100 μm suitable for cell infiltration. The presence of nSiO2 in the scaffolds facilitated increased protein adsorption and controlled swelling ability. The scaffolds were biodegradable and the addition of nSiO2 improved apatite deposition on these scaffolds. There was no significant cytotoxicity effect of these CS/Alg/nSiO2 scaffolds towards osteolineage cells. Thus, these results indicate that CS/Alg/nSiO2 scaffolds may have potential applications for bone tissue engineering.

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