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Page 87
Volume 7, Issue 6 (Suppl)
J Biotechnol Biomater, an open access journal
ISSN: 2155-952X
World Biotechnology 2017
December 04-05, 2017
2
nd
World Biotechnology Congress
December 04-05, 2017 | Sao Paulo, Brazil
Effect of synthesis process variables on morphological and mechanical properties of vitreous carbon
scaffolds for tissue engineering applications
Natalia Terán-Acuña, Viviana Güiza-Argüello
and
Elcy Córdoba-Tuta
Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia
V
itreous carbon foams have been shown to promote bone cell adhesion, mineralization and proliferation. However, their low
mechanical resistance as well as their high manufacturing cost restricts their utilization in the biomedical area. The purpose of
this study was to develop bone tissue engineering scaffolds from vitreous carbon foams, which were fabricated through the template
route using an economical and renewable precursor. Towards this, cellulose sponges were impregnated with a sucrose-based resin
and then carbonized under inert atmosphere. The effect of the concentration of the components of the resin (HNO
3
and sucrose)
on the mechanical and morphological properties of the resulting foams was determined. Moreover, the ability of the synthesized
foams to promote cell adhesion was evaluated
in vitro
using human osteoblasts. Our results show that it was possible to produce
vitreous carbon foams with highly interconnected polyhedral cells (cell size~1000 μm). Scaffold morphology was strongly affected
by the concentration of the catalyst in the resin (HNO
3
) due to its foaming effect, which lead to porous and irregular surfaces on the
carbonaceous materials. Also, increasing the concentration of sucrose in the precursor resin favored the mechanical resistance of
the resulting foams, reaching values close to the commercial foams. In conclusion, vitreous carbon foams with trabecular bone-like
morphology were obtained from a non-toxic and renewable precursor. The fabricated foams were shown to be highly cytocompatible
and to promote human osteoblast adhesion. Although the compressive strength of the foams is much lower than that of native bone,
their high porosity will allow their reinforcement using an additional biocompatible phase (coating/filler). Therefore, the vitreous
foams synthesized here could be used as the porous component of a composite biomaterial system for the treatment of bone defects
natalia.teran@correo.uis.edu.coJ Biotechnol Biomater 2017, 7:6 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2155-952X-C1-086