Fabrication of Bioactive Carbon Nonwovens for Bone Tissue Regeneration

Abstract

The aim of tissue engineering is to repair or replace the function of defective or damaged tissue. One of the key factors is the creation of a scaffold as an artificial extracellular matrix (ECM) for cellular attachment, proliferation and differentiation. In scaffold-based bone tissue engineering, both the porosity and mechanical properties of the scaffold are of great importance. To mimic the structure of natural ECM, three fibrous scaffolds based on composite carbon fibres containing nanohydroxyapatite were fabricated using nonwoven techniques. The overall objective of the present work was to compare and analyse the properties of needlepunched nonwoven produced from PAN and PAN/HAp fibres before and after stabilization and carboniation processes. The characterisation of the scaffold showed that after the carbonisation process, the nonwoven had an interconnective microporous structure (70-150 µm), high porosity as well as mechanical and structural integrity. Soaking the nonwoven in simulated body fluid (SBF) at body temperature formed a bone-like apatite on the fibre surface. The formation of the bone-like apatite demonstrates the potential of nonwovens for integration with bone.