Chitosan-coated electrospun PLA fibers for rapid mineralization of calcium phosphate

In this work, hydroxyapatite (HA) mineralized on chitosan (CS)-coated poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanofiber mat was prepared and compared in terms of mineralization characteristics. Significant calcium phosphate crystals formed on various concentrations of CS-coated PLA fiber mat with better uniformity after 2 h of incubation in 10 times simulated body fluid (10x SBF). X-ray diffraction results further indicated that the composition of the deposited mineral was a mixture of dicalcium phosphate dehydrates and apatite. Chitosan, a cationic polysaccharide, can promote more nucleation and growth of calcium phosphate under conditions of 0.4% chitosan concentrations. These results indicated that HA-mineralized on CS-coated PLA fiber mat can be prepared directly via simply using CS coating followed by SBF immersion, and the results also suggest that this composite can mimic structural, compositional, and biological functions of native bone and can serve as a good candidate for bone tissue engineering (BTE). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.