Biomimetic Hydroxyapatite Mineralization on the Thermoplastic Polyurethane Fibrous Scaffold Modified with Cellulose Nanocrystal

For the purpose to improve the capacity of biomimetic mineralization of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) nanofiber. A novel, straightforward, fast and versatile method was developed to modify the surface of TPU nanofiber with cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) particles for the improvement of hydrophilic property. The TPU nanofiber was prepared by using electrospinning. And then the surface of TPU nanofiber was modified through simply immersing it into CNC dispersion and subjecting to ultrasonication. Finally, the TPU/CNF nanofiber was biomineralized by treatment in simulated body fluid (SBF). The results showed that the biomimetic mineralized TPU/CNC-HA fibrous scaffold for bone regeneration was successfully fabricated and the introduction of CNC particles can effectively increase the deposition rate of biomimetic HA crystals on the surface of TPU nanofiber. The fabricated TPU/CNC-HA fibrous scaffold contains a high quality mineralized coating and shows that its tensile strength and Young's module are significantly larger than these of TPU scaffold. Moreover, the scaffold can mimic the morphology and components of natural bone and provide a potential application in bone regeneration.