Tissue engineering scaffold material of nano-apatite crystals and polyamide composite

A new kind of tissue engineering scaffold materials of needle-like nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HA) and polyamide (PA) biocomposite is prepared by co-solution, co-precipitation method and water treatment under normal atmospheric pressure. The n-HA crystals uniformly distribute in the composite with a crystal size of 10-20 nm in diameter by 70-90 nm in length. The n-HA/PA composite has good homogeneity, high n-HA content (65 wt%), and high bioactivity. Strong molecule interactions and chemical bondings are present between the n-HA and PA in the composite, which are verified by IR, XPS and XRD. The composite has excellent mechanical properties close to the natural bone. The porous 3-D scaffold is made by injection foaming method, which has not only macropores, but also micropores on the walls of macropores. The porosity is 80% and the average macropore diameter is about 300 mum of the composite. The n-HA/PA composite can be used for tissue engineering and bone repair or substitute. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.