Hydroxyapatite/tricalcium silicate composites cement derived from novel two-step sol-gel process with good biocompatibility and applications as bone cement and potential coating materials

Abstract Tricalcium silicate (C3S) and hydroxyapatite (HAp) composites were fabricated through the sol-gel process. The aim of this research is to improve the biocompatibility of C3S through HAp addition and study the potential of using this as coating materials. The composites (HAp/C3S) were characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, thermal gravity-differential thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction. The working and setting times of cement pastes were tested using Gillmore needle. Mechanical properties were examined by nanoindentation and material testing system. In vitro biocompatibility of the materials were studied by cell attachment and viability of L929 and MG-63 cells. HAp/C3S as a coating material on gelatin film were measured with the surface roughness and imaged by scanning electron microscope. With the addition of HAp, no undesirable free CaO was detected with the synthesis by the sol-gel preparation. The pH values of HAp added groups were between 7.54 and 8.76, which were much lower than pure C3S group (pH = 11.75). For in vitro studies, the presence of HAp could effectively enhance the cell attachment and viability of both L929 and MG-63 cells grown in the extract or directly on the composites. However, the mechanical properties of the composites were impaired as compared to pure C3S. Lastly, HAp/C3S cement could be evenly coated on gelatin film. HAp is successfully demonstrated to improve C3S biocompatibility with this new composites HAp/C3S. C-75 (75% C3S and 25% HAp), in particular, has good biocompatibility, relatively high compressive strength and can be uniformly coated onto gelatin film. Thus, C-75 is a promising material for further investigation as a coating on other biopolymers.