Nano-hydroxyapatite/polyacrylamide composite hydrogels with high mechanical strengths and cell adhesion properties

Nano-hydroxyapatite/polyacrylamide composite hydrogels were successfully fabricated by physically mixing nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp) particles into a peroxidized micelles initiated and cross-linked (pMIC) polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogel. The nanocomposite hydrogels exhibited excellent mechanical properties. The fracture tensile stresses of the gels were in the range of 0.21-0.86 MPa and the fracture tensile strains were up to 30 mm/mm, and the compressive strengths were up to 35.8 MPa. Meanwhile the introduction of nHAp endowed the composite hydrogels with good cell adhesion properties. This nHAp/PAAm nanocomposite hydrogel is expected to find potential applications in tissue engineering. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.