Designing of hydroxyapatite-gelatin based porous matrix as bone substitute: Correlation with biocompatibility aspects

In the present study polyacrylamide (PAm)-gelatin-hydroxyapatite (HA) composites have been synthesized by suspension polymerization method. The prepared composites were characterized by Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR) which revealed the presence of functional groups in the composite. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies indicated that HA powder was present in nano size. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed that composite is more thermally stable than the polymer matrix alone. The morphology of composite studied by optical microscopy (OPM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) suggested that pore size was between 3-20 mu m. The composites showed adequately good mechanical properties as evident from the varying compressive strength and modulus in the range 31.57 +/- 8.16 MPa and 745 +/- 388 MPa, respectively. The water sorption behavior was found to be dependent on the chemical composition of the matrix and the sorption data were used to calculate network parameters. The porosity of composite varied between 4 to 30.66%. The in vitro blood compatibility indicated that the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) varied from 0.11 to 0.24 mg.g(-1), the percentage haemolysis was between 2.4 to 6.9% and the weight of blood clot formed on the composite surfaces were found in the range 11 to 52 mg.