Fabrication and characterization of low-cost freeze-gelated chitosan/collagen/hydroxyapatite hydrogel nanocomposite scaffold

In the present research, chitosan/collagen and chitosan/collagen/nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAP) hydrogel nanocomposites were prepared using naturally extracted chitosan from Persian Gulf shrimp wastes and rat tail-tendon collagen. Freeze-gelation method was used to prepare highly porous scaffolds. The morphology, chemical structure, water retainability, and thermal properties were characterized using SEM, FTIR, water content experiment, simultaneous thermal analysis (STA), respectively. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) nanoindentation and unconfined compression test were used to assess different feature of the mechanical properties of the hydrogels. The obtained results were so promising that the prepared nanocomposites can be considered as a potential candidate for cartilage tissue engineering.