Preparation and characterization of nano-hydroxyapatite/chitosan cross-linking composite membrane intended for tissue engineering.

In this paper, a series of nano-hydroxyapatite(n-HA)/chitosan cross-linking composite membranes (n-HA; 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 wt%) were successfully developed by a simple casting/solvent evaporation method. n-HA with size about 20 nm in vertical diameter and about 100 nm in horizontal diameter was successfully synthesized by a hydro-thermal precipitation method, and then dispersed into chitosan/genipin solution with the aid of continuous ultrasound to develop n-HA/chitosan cross-linking composite membranes. The detailed characterizations including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), water adsorption and tensile test were performed. With the analysis of FTIR spectra and TGA spectra, it suggested that there was existence of possible interactions between polymer and n-HA. Meanwhile, the n-HA content was greatly effected on the morphology as well as the tensile property of composite membrane. In vitro cytotoxicity test suggested that the developed n-HA/chitosan cross-linking composite membrane was non-cytotoxicity against L929 cells after 24h's incubation might be suitable for further in vivo application.