ABSTRACT
Bioceramic/polymer composites have dragged a lot of attention for treating hard tissue damage in recent years. In this study, we synthesized barium-doped baghdadite (Ba-BAG), as a novel bioceramic, and later developed fibrous composite poly (hydroxybutyrate) co (hydroxyvalerate)- polycaprolactone (PHBV-PCL) scaffolds containing different amounts of baghdadite (BAG) and Ba-BAG, intended to be used in bone regeneration. Our results demonstrated that BAG and Ba-doped BAG powders were synthesized successfully using the sol-gel method and their microstructural, physicochemical, and cytotoxical properties results were evaluated. In the following, PHBV/PCL composite scaffolds containing different amounts of BAG and Ba-BAG (1, 3, and 5 wt%) were produced by the wet electrospinning method. The porosity of scaffolds decreased from 78% to 72% in Ba-BAG-incorporated PHBV/PCL scaffolds. The compressive strength of the scaffolds was between 4.69 and 9.28 kPa, which was increased to their maximum values in the scaffolds with Ba-BAG. The presence of BAG and Ba-BAG in the polymer scaffolds resulted in increasing bioactivity, and it was introduced as a suitable way to control the degradation rate of scaffolds. The presence of the BAG component was a major reason for higher cell proliferation in reinforced PHBV/PCL polymeric scaffolds, while Ba existence played its influential role in the higher osteogenic activity of cells on Ba-BAG incorporated PHBV/PCL scaffolds. Thus, the incorporation of Ba-BAG bioceramic materials into the structure of polymeric PHBV/PCL scaffolds promoted their various properties, and allow these scaffolds to be used as promising candidates in bone tissue engineering applications.