Fabrication and characterization of chitosan coated and uncoated pcl/ha/ppy composite scaffoldsusing freeze drying technique

Abstract

Chitosan is an abundantly common, naturally occurring, polysaccharide biopolymer. In this study, chitosan was used to coat previously fabricated conductive Polycaprolactone/Hydroxyapatite/Polypyrrole (PCL/HA/PPY) composite scaffold and the properties of the coated and non-coated scaffolds were investigated and compared. The morphology of the chitosan coated and non-coated scaffolds were characterized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The wettability was determined using a water contact angle measuring system. Furthermore, water uptake was determined by measuring the water absorption of each sample before and after coated with chitosan. Water contact angle result revealed an increase in wettability of the scaffolds ranging from 108° ± 4.2 down to 59.4° ± 0.7. On the other hand, the coated sample showed a higher water uptake than the non-coated sample. The results indicated that coating with chitosan was important to increase water absorption of composite scaffold, rendering it more hydrophilic.