Dynamic rheological behaviors of the bone scaffold reinforced by chitin fibres

In this study, a novel bioabsorbable porous bone scaffold reinforced by chitin fibres was prepared, the porosity of which is about 90 % and the pore size is approximately 200 mu m. The Advanced Rheological Enlarged System (ARES) was used to study the dynamic rheological behaviors of the ropy materials which would be made into the reinforced scaffold. The increase of the fibres' volume content (C-f) enhanced the complex modulus (G*) and complex viscosity (eta*) of the materials, the reason of which is that the fibres formed networks in the materials. When Cf increased from 35 % to 45 %, the storage modulus (G ') and loss modulus (G '') curve showed obvious yielding behavior, which indicates that G ' and G '' of the materials are hardly variable in a wide range. When Cf was more than 35 %, the loss factor (tan delta) was obviously lower than I and the materials exhibited viscoclastic properties, which result in a disadvantage for materials' processing.