Biomimetic strengthening PLA scaffold materials for bone tissue engineering

We designed a new polylactide (PLA) based scaffold composite by biomimetic synthesis. The new composite mainly consisted of nano-hydroxyapatite n-HA, which is the main inorganic content in natural bone tissue for the PLA. The crystal degree of the n-HA in the composite was low and the crystal size was very small, which was similar to that of natural bone. The compressive strength of the composite was higher than the PLA scaffold. Using osteoblast culture technique, the cells behavior on the biomaterial in vitro was detected by SEM. The higher cell affinity on the composite than the PLA scaffold was shown. The biomimetic three-dimensional porous composite can serve as an excellent scaffold material for bone tissue engineering both in terms of microstructure and properties.