Development of Porous, Antibacterial and Biocompatible GO/n-HAp/Bacterial Cellulose/ β-Glucan Biocomposite Scaffold for Bone Tissue Engineering

Abstract Due to their potential renewable materials-based tissue engineering scaffolds has gained more attention. Therefore, researchers are looking for new materials to be used as a scaffold. In this study, we have focused on the development of a nanocomposite scaffold for bone tissue engineering using bacterial cellulose (BC) and β-glucan (β-G) via free radical polymerization and freeze-drying technique. Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (n-HAp) and graphene oxide (GO) were added as reinforcement materials. The structural changes, surface morphology, porosity, and mechanical properties were investigated through spectroscopic and analytical techniques like Fourier transformation infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Brunauer–Emmett-Teller (BET), and universal testing machine Instron. The scaffolds showed remarkable stability, hydrophobicity, aqueous degradation, spongy morphology, porosity, mechanical properties. Antibacterial activities were performed against gram -ive and gram +ive bacterial strains. The BgC-1.4 scaffold was found more antibacterial compared to BgC-1.3, BgC-1.2, and BgC-1.1. The cell culture and cytotoxicity were evaluated using the MC3T3-E1 cell line. More cell growth was observed onto BgC-1.4 due to its uniform interrelated pores distribution, surface roughness, better mechanical properties, and considerable biochemical affinity towards cell adhesion, proliferation, and hemocompatibility. These bio-composite scaffolds can be potential biomaterials for fractured bones in orthopedic tissue engineering.