Au-doped carbonated hydroxyapatite sputtered on alumina scaffolds via pulsed laser deposition for biomedical applications

Carbonated hydroxyapatite (CHAP)-doped with different concentrations of gold (Au) was sputtered on a scaffold of alumina via pulsed laser deposition technique. The structural, microstructural and morphological behaviors were investigated. FESEM indicated that Au CHAP was formed as spherical shapes with diameters around 0.25-0.45 mu m, while alumina was formed in rectangular grains with dimensions around 0.9 x 1.3 x 2.25 mu m(3). The examination of mechanical properties indicated that micro-hardness has been enhanced with a variation of sputtering composition upon changing of Au concentration. It was enhanced form 31.0 GPa at zero contribution of Au to be 34.0 GPa at the highest one. Moreover, the cell viability and cells were grown on the scaffold surface were also examined against the HFB4 cell line. It was shown that scaffold compositions displayed high compatibility and reached 92.5 +/- 4.7%. Furthermore, the cells were not only spread and grew on the scaffold's surface, but they also proliferated deeply through the porosity of the scaffold as a function of Au dopant. This implies that tailoring scaffold for biomedical engineering depends on superfine composition could be suggested for numerous applications. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.