Bioinspired mineralization and cell adhesion on surface functionalized poly(vinyl alcohol) films

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) films, when surface functionalized by phosphorylation, induced biomimetic nucleation and growth of calcium phosphate in a simulated physiological environment. The surface phosphorylation on PVA was ensured by attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy. The morphology of the calcium phosphate phase grown on surface-phosphorylated PVA (PPVA) was analysed using scanning electron microscopy coupled with an energy-dispersive X-ray detector. The primary nucleation of calcium phosphate occurs in 3 days and secondary nucleation occurs after 10 days. The energy-dispersive X-ray analysis shows that the Ca/P ratio of the coating increases with time of exposure to the simulated physiological fluid and reaches 1.67 at 10 days. The PPVA supports in vitro cell adhesion and promotes in vitro biomineralization in the presence of cells, evaluated using human osteosarcoma cells.