Enhancement of Biocompatibility of Fish Scale-Based Hydroxyapatite-Infused Fibrous Scaffolds by Low-Temperature Plasma

Owing to its excellent ability to enhance the cell growth and proliferation, hydroxyapatite (HAp) has received tremendous attention as a highly valuable biomaterials. Byproducts from the marine environment, especially fish scales, have proved to be a vital source for HAp. Nevertheless, HAp still has a profound influence on the matrices designed for biomedical applications. In this study, fish scale-derived nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HAp) = infused non-woven polycaprolactone (PCL) fibrous scaffolds are developed byforce spinning. The surface properties of the nanofibrous scaffolds are modified by oxygen plasma treatment, and their influence on n-HAP-infused PCL scaffolds is investigated. Plasma treatment is favorable for 2 wt.% and 3 wt.% scaffolds with a high O/C ratio and improving C=O content, and are found to have high cell growth. The 3 wt.% scaffolds have high crystallinity which is twice the crystallinity of neat fibers. The plasma treated 2 wt.% and 3 wt.% scaffolds were found to have high cell growth almost twice that of neat scaffolds, and these observations complied with the results from x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The plasma treatment enhances the functional properties and biocompatibility of fibrous scaffolds containing 2 and 3 wt.% n-HAP.