Development of bone-like zirconium oxide nanoceramic modified chitosan based porous nanocomposites for biomedical application.

Here, zirconium oxide nanoparticles (ZrO2 NPs) were incorporated for the first time in organic-inorganic hybrid composites containing chitosan, poly(ethylene glycol) and nano-hydroxypatite (CS-PEG-HA) to develop bone-like nanocomposites for bone tissue engineering application. These nanocomposites were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, TEM combined with SAED. SEM images and porosity measurements revealed highly porous structure having pore size of less than 1μm to 10μm. Enhanced water absorption capacity and mechanical strengths were obtained compared to previously reported CS-PEG-HA composite after addition of 0.1-0.3wt% of ZrO2 NPs into these nanocomposites. The mechanical strengths and porosities were similar to that of human spongy bone. Strong antimicrobial effects against gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial strains were also observed. Along with getting low alkalinity pH (7.4) values, similar to the pH of human plasma, hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility with osteoblastic MG-63 cells were also established for these nanocomposites. Addition of 15wt% HA-ZrO2 (having 0.3wt% ZrO2 NPs) into CS-PEG (55:30wt%) composite resulted in greatest mechanical strength, porosity, antimicrobial property and cytocompatibility along with suitable water absorption capacity and compatibility with human pH and blood. Thus, this nanocomposite could serve as a potential candidate to be used for bone tissue engineering.