Forsterite-hydroxyapatite composite scaffolds with photothermal antibacterial activity for bone repair

Bone engineering scaffolds with antibacterial activity satisfy the repair of bacterial infected bone defects, which is an expected issue in clinical. In this work, 3D-printed polymer-derived forsterite scaffolds were proposed to be deposited with hydroxyapatite (HA) coating via a hydrothermal treatment, achieving the functions of photothermal-induced antibacterial ability and bioactivity. The results showed that polymer-derived forsterite scaffolds possessed the photothermal antibacterial ability to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) in vitro, owing to the photothermal effect of free carbon embedded in the scaffolds. The morphology of HA coating on forsterite scaffolds could be controlled through changing the hydrothermal temperature and the pH value of the reaction solution during hydrothermal treatment. Furthermore, HA coating did not influence the mechanical strength and photothermal effect of the scaffolds, but facilitated the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of rat bone mesenchymal stem cells (rBMSCs) on scaffolds. Hence, the HA-deposited forsterite scaffolds would be greatly promising for repairing bacterial infected bone defects.

Automated summary

This study proposed a method to deposit hydroxyapatite coating on polymer-derived forsterite scaffolds through hydrothermal treatment, achieving photothermal-induced antibacterial ability and bioactivity. The hydroxyapatite coating did not affect the mechanical strength and photothermal effect of the scaffolds, but promoted the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of rat bone mesenchymal stem cells on the scaffolds.