Nano‐hydroxyapatite and nano‐hydroxyapatite/zinc oxide scaffold for bone tissue engineering application

This research aims to evaluate the mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and degradation behavior of scaffolds made of pure hydroxyapatite (HA) and HA‐modified by ZnO for bone tissue engineering applications. HA and ZnO were developed using sol‐gel and precipitation methods respectively. The scaffolds properties were characterized using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic absorption (AA), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The interaction of scaffold with cells was assessed using in vitro cell proliferation and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assays. The obtained results indicate that the HA/ZnO scaffolds possess higher compressive strength, fracture toughness, and density—but lower hardness—when compared to the pure HA scaffolds. After immersing the scaffold in the SBF solution, more deposited apatite appeared on the HA/ZnO, which results in the rougher surface on this scaffold compared to the pure HA scaffold. Finally, the in vitro biological analysis using human osteoblast cells reveals that scaffolds are biocompatible with adequate ALP activity.