Electrospun polyurethane with combination of nickel oxide nanoparticle and groundnut oil for future bone application

Abstract

The main challenge in bone tissue engineering is to fabricate a synthetic bone scaffold with mimicking the native extracellular matrix (ECM) structure of the human bone. Recently, the nanofibrous scaffold holds a great potential in the tissue engineering applications because of their structure resembling the original properties of ECM. This research is focussed to fabricate a synthetic scaffold based on polyurethane (PU) incorporated with ground nut oil (GO) and nickel oxide (NiO). Nickel oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using plant extract using Plectranthus amboinicus (PA) with 60% and 100% concentration. The synthesized nanoparticles using green extract showed particle size in the range of 800-960nm respectively. Particles with reduced particle diameter produced using 100% extract was used to fabricate the scaffolds. The electrospun membranes were characterized using FE-SEM, FTIR, and contact angle measurements, XRD, TGA and AFM. Further, the bone mineralisation test was carried out to examine minerals formation along with the amount of mineral particles deposition in the electrospun membranes. The fabricated nanocomposites showed reduced fiber diameter of 327nm than the pristine PU of 616nm. The presence of NiO nanoparticles were evident through FTIR analysis by hydrogen bond formation. Further, XRD analysis confirmed the existence of NiO in the polyurethane matrix by exhibiting various crystal planes. The contact angle measurements depicted that the contact angle of PU/NiO/GO was within the optimum range suitable for improved cell adhesion and proliferation. The addition of NiO and GO improved the thermal behaviour of the pure PU explained in the thermal study. Further, the AFM analysis showed the fabricated composites showed smooth surfaces compared to the pure PU with a remarkable difference in surface roughness. Bone mineralisation testing depicted the improved deposition of calcium in the developed composites than the pristine PU which is corroborated with SEM images and EDX analysis. Hence, the fabricated nanocomposites with improved physico-chemical and mineral deposition might be used as potential candidate for bone application.