Effect of cellulose nanocrystals on scaffolds comprising chitosan, alginate and hydroxyapatite for bone tissue engineering

In this study, chitosan/alginate/hydroxyapatite/nanocrystalline cellulose scaffolds were successfully fabricated by the using of freeze-drying method, followed by dicationic crosslinking using CaCl2. The chemical structure and morphology along with mechanical properties of the formed scaffolds respecting to various CNC contents were studied by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and mechanical compression test. Chemical interaction and electrostatic attraction between chitosan (CS) and alginate with various CNC ratios were affirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. Results depicted that, scaffolds containing CNC exhibited remarkable improvement in both swelling ratio up to 110% compared without CNC (63%) and compressive strength when compared with other scaffolds. In addition, the average pore size increased, dramatically, with increasing of CNC up to 230 μm. Porosity was also obeyed the sequence and attainted a maximum value at 93.6%. The growth and cell attachment of fibroblast cells of the selected scaffold were examined prolonging to the cell viability by using Alamar Blue (AB) and then confirmed using SEM. The results indicated that the scaffold comprising CNC has a promising cell growth and cell adherence, and thus expected to have a potent possibility for applications in bone tissue culture. •New scaffolds for bone tissue engineering has been performed.•Study the effect of different concentrations of CNC on the properties of the resulted scaffolds.•Incorporation of CNC enhances the mechanical as well as physical properties of scaffolds.•Investigate cell growth and attachment of fibroblast cells prolonging with cytotoxicity of the scaffolds.•Cell growth as well as cell adherence were improved due to effect of CNC.