Improving the mechanical and bioactivity of hydroxyapatite porous scaffold ceramic with diopside/forstrite ceramic coating

Scaffolds are considered as biological substitutes in bone defects which improve and accelerate the healing process of surrounding tissue. In recent years a major challenge in biomaterials is to produce porous materials with properties similar to bone tissue. In this study, the natural bioactive hydroxyapatite scaffolds with nano Diopside /Forstrite coating was successfully synthesized to be used in tissue engineering applications. The spongy part of bovine bone was cut and the subsequent sintering temperature was applied for fabrication of natural hydroxyapatite. Then the scaffolds were coated with 30 wt% nano-Diopside/Forstrite composite slurry. The scaffolds were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscope (EDS). In the present study, the mechanical properties of natural HA scaffold were improved when coated with a composite nmaed Diopside/Forstrite ceramic. The optimum properties were evaluated for the scaffolds containing 30 wt% composite ceramic coating. The pore size of the obtained scaffold was measured to be in the range of 300-400 nm. Compressive strength and porosity of the composite scaffold were approximately 1.5±0.2 MPa and 93±1.1 MPa, respectively. Based on the mechanical and bioactivity result, the natural bioactive hydroxyapatite scaffolds with nano Diopside /Forstrite coating showed improved mechanical properties, pore size, porosity content and apatite formation ability whcih can be a promising candidate for bone tissue engineering applications.