Structure and properties of nano-hydroxyapatite/poly(butylene succinate) porous scaffold for bone tissue engineering prepared by using ethanol as porogen

Biodegradable polymers, because their degradation products are small molecules that do not cause immune system rejection, have been increasingly used by researchers to explore the preparation of scaffold with excellent mechanical properties, biocompatibility and biodegradability. In this study, nano-hydroxyapatite and polybutylene succinate were mixed by solution-blending to prepare a porous scaffold that could be used in the biomedical industry. Based on the viewpoint of bionics, porous scaffold with well pore structure and uniform dispersion of nano-hydroxyapatite particles was prepared using ethanol as a porogen. When ethanol was used as a porogen to prepare the porous scaffold, the effects of different mass ratios of nano-hydroxyapatite and polybutylene succinate on the porosity and pore structure of the porous scaffold were investigated under the same amount of ethanol. The mercury intrusion tests showed that the porosity of the 30 nano-hydroxyapatite/polybutylene succinate porous scaffold was 38.987%. The experiment results of in vitro mineralization and cell culture showed that the porous scaffolds have good osteogenic capacity and cell compatibility, including attachment and proliferation. All experiment results indicated that ethanol can be used as a porogen to prepare nano-hydroxyapatite/polybutylene succinate porous scaffold, and it has great potential as a scaffold for bone tissue engineering.