One of the significant challenges in bone tissue engineering is the fabrication of highly porous scaffolds and interconnected pores and appropriate mechanical properties. Commonly available synthetic scaffolds made of ceramic or polymer but a better combination of properties can be achived with a composite or multi-component structure. The aim of this study is to produce three-dimensional (hardystonite-Diopside) and (Baghdadite-Diopside) porous scaffolds using space holder technique in order to use in bone tissue engineering. Therefore, Hardystonite, Baghdadite and Diopside nanopowders were synthesized via sol-gel combustion, mechanical activation, sol-gel and the combination of sol-gel and mechanical activation, respectively, and then with various ratios (5, 10 and 15 wt. % diopside) were mixed. Then, after addition of sodium chloride as spacer with appropriate weight percentage, they mixture was compacted under the uniaxial compression. In order to remove sodium chloride and develop porous structure, samples were sintered. After determination of the optimal scaffolds in terms of mechanical properties, the scaffolds were coated with 6 wt. % poly caprolacton fumurat soulution and their mechanical, physical and biological proprtise was eva‎luated. The produced powders and scaffolds were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and atomic absoption spectrometer (AAS). Furthermore, axial compression test was applied to study the mechanical properties of scaffolds. Bioactivity of different scaffolds was investigated by soaking them in SBF for various periods. The viability, proliferation of cells and non-cytotoxicity of scaffolds were determined by the MTT tests. The results showed that the addition of 15wt. % Diopside nano powder altered the properties of the composite scaffold (hardystonite and baghdadite) such that compressive strength of hardystonite and baghdadite composite scaffolds increased to 1.655 and 1.09 compared to pure hardystonite and baghdadite with 0.35 and 0.519, respectivelly. Applied the polymer coating with crosslineked structure on optimal scaffolds caused to improve the compressive strength of hardystonite and baghdadite in presence of 15wt. % diopside to 51 and 33%, respectivelly. Based on the results of Archimedes’ principle and SEM microghraphs, addition of 15wt. % diopside not led to the noticeable chage in porosity %, but the improvement in pores morphology was obsereved. SEM microghraphs of scaffolds after soaking in SBF depicted the tiny agglomerated bone-like apatite particles. Also, biocompatibility eva‎luations by MTT method showed that scaffolds could stimulate cell proliferation of Human bone marrow stem cells and they did not have any cytotoxicity, as compared to control sample. Considering the results obtained, it seems that, manufactured scaffolds could be a good candidate for bone tissue engineering

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شيدا لباف

مهدي احمديان، علي دوست محمدي