A Study on Fabrication and Characterization of Polyvinyl Alcohol- Hydroxyapatite Composite Scaffolds

Abstract- Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is one of the most important polymers used in scaffolding fields. This polymer can be cross-linked with Chemical and physical cross-linking methods such as Acetalizing, esterification, freeze thawing and irradiation. In the present paper, PVA scaffolds are prepared by using acetalizng/esterification method and Hydroxyapatite (HA) particles are added as a secondary agent. For this purpose PVA reinforced with different content (i.e., 0, 5, 10, 20 wt%) of HA were produced. In order to prepare PVA as a porous material, salt was added to the PVA. Also, Formaldehyde was added to the mixture to cross-link by acetalizing method. The distribution and size of pores were evaluated using microscopic investigation and liquid displacement method. The results showed that addition of HA to the PVA increase the number of pores and decreases the density of scaffolds. Keywords – , , ,