Preparation of Composite Material Based on Poly(butylene succinate) with Montmorillonite for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

This work focuses on the development of a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer composite based on poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and nano-layered silicates Montmorillonite (MMT) with appropriate properties for the bone tissue engineering application. The MMT was previously modified with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to increase its compatibility with the PBS and then the PBS/MMT-PEG composites were then prepared by melt mixing method. The mechanical results showed that MMT can improve the impact and flexural strength of PBS; only by adding 1% MMT the impact strength was increased by 6.8% with MMT and 13.3% with MMT-PEG, this material has relatively good mechanical properties and is suitable for bone splint applications. Moreover, the hydrophilicity of PBS composite scaffolds increased after adding MMT and increased even more with MMT-PEG. The density of composite materials is still much smaller than the materials currently used for implants. Samples were soaked in a simulated body fluid, the neoformation of bone-like apatite layer on their surfaces due to their bioactivity. The surface morphology of all samples was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X‑ray (EDX) spectroscopy. The result showed that PBS/MMT-PEG scaffolds were biocompatible and that they promoted mineralization more efficiently than pure PBS and PBS/MMT scaffolds. These results suggest that PBS/MMT-PEG scaffold has potential application in bone repair.