Polyurethane nanofiber scaffolds for future bone tissue applications: Using β‐cyclodextrin and zinc oxide nanoparticles to improve the properties

• Published in: Polymers for advanced technologies Vol. 35; no. 6
• Main Authors: Khan, Rumysa Saleem, Rather, Anjum Hamid, Rafiq, Muheeb, Wani, Taha Umair, Jadhav, Arvind H., Abdal‐hay, Abdalla, Kanjwal, Muzafar A., Ahmad, Syed Mudasir, Sheikh, Faheem A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-06-2024; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Biomedical materials; bone regeneration; Bones; Contact angle; cyclodextrin; Cyclodextrins; electrospinning; Fourier transforms; Grafting; hydrophobic; Hydrophobicity; Hydroxyapatite; Lymphocytes; mineralization; Nanofibers; Nanoparticles; Phenolphthalein; Photoelectrons; Polyurethane resins; Scaffolds; Substitute bone; Tensile strength; Tissue engineering; zinc; Zinc oxide; Zinc oxides
• ISSN: 1042-7147; 1099-1581
• DOI: 10.1002/pat.6438

Numerous strategies exist to design a suitable bone graft made from polyurethane (PU) nanofibers. However, using PU nanofibers is impractical owing to their hydrophobicity. This work transforms the hydrophobicity of PU nanofibers using β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs). Transmission and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated the size of ~100 to 200 nm for ZnO NPs, and these NPs could finely harmonize inside nanofibers. The phenolphthalein absorbance test confirmed the inclusion of ZnO and β‐CD. Fourier transform infrared, X‐ray diffraction, and photoelectron spectroscopy showed that synthesized composites have intermolecular hydrogen interactions between the PU, β‐CD, and ZnO NPs. These embellishments improved the hydrophilicity from a contact angle of 60.2 ± 0.2° to 0°. The tensile strength of modified fibers increased from 2.16 ± 0.14 to 6.65 ± 6.0 MPa. The incorporation of ZnO NPs caused the mineralization of the nanofibers and the maximum number of hydroxyapatite NPs in the composite, which had the highest concentration of ZnO NPs. These nanofiber mats boosted the proliferation of Human Embryonic Kidney 293 T cells till 6 days of culture for the nanofiber with 5% β‐CD and 75 mg ZnO NPs combination. Cell fixation studies indicated the successful attachment of cells onto nanofibers. Consequently, our multifunctional scaffolds could be osteoproductive and osteoinductive biomaterials for future bone tissue engineering.