Preparation and characterization of Collagen/hydroxyapatite microsphere composite scaffold for bone regeneration

In the present work Collagen/Hydroxyapatite microsphere (Col/mHA) scaffold with a multiscale porosity was prepared. Col/mHA composite scaffold was prepared by freeze-drying/dehydrothermal crosslinking method. The HA microspheres (mHA) were obtained by spray drying of nano hydroxyapatite slurry prepared by precipitation technique. XRD analysis revealed that the microspheres were composed only of pure HA phase and EDS analysis revealed that Ca/P ratio was 1.69. The obtained microspheres had an average diameter 6 microns, specific surface area of 40 m2/g by BET analysis and BJH analysis shows meso porous structure having an average pore diameter 16nm. SEM analysis shows that the obtained Col/mHA scaffold had a macro porosity ranging from micron to 200 microns with meso porous mHA embedded in the collagen matrix.