Preparation and Physical Characterization of Gelatin—Starch/Hydroxyapatite Porous Composite Scaffold Fabricated Using Novel Microwave Energy under Vacuum Technique

Abstract

This work was initiated to explore the possibility of preparing porous scaffold, using microwave energy under vacuum technique. The hypothesis was that microwave energy under vacuum may promote effective cross-linking of the biopolymers during drying as well as to lead desirable physical characteristics of composites for hard tissue-like bone regeneration. Three different percentages of hydroxyapatite (HA) was reinforced with gelatin—starch polymer network to prepare porous scaffolds. EDS result of the prepared scaffold composite showed that Ca/P ratio of the HA phase was the same for all the HA percentages, 1.7, which is slightly higher than the standard value of 1.67. FTIR results showed the existence of a carbonate group along with the peaks of phosphate groups and hydroxyls, the functional group of HA. The scaffold composite obtained by microwave energy under vacuum technique had good mechanical and structural properties, which showed a promising potential for bone-substitution applications.