Surface modification of poly(styrene/ethylene glycol dimethacrylate)HIPE loaded with hydroxyapatite as a scaffold for tissue engineering application

Abstract

Poly (High Internal Phase Emulsion) (Poly HIPE) foam is a material that is good candidate for used in tissue engineering application due to its 3D structure and highly porous with interconnected pore. The Poly HIPE was prepared from poly (styrene/ethylene glycol dimethacrylate; 80/20) through high internal phase emulsion polymerization technique and loaded with hydroxyapatite (HA) to improve biocompatibility. In this study, improvement of hydrophilicity of the poly HIPE was carried out by Layer-by-Layer method. Three types of chemicals were used for coating on the surface of poly HIPE such as poly (sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) (PSS), gelatin, and alginic acid. The change of surface properties of the modified poly HIPE was characterized by contact angle measurement. It was found that hydrophilicity of the surface increase after coating as observed by decrease in contact angle degree. The effect of type of coating on cell attachment and cell proliferation was also studied. The PSS modified poly HIPE showed the highest efficiency of attachment of the L929 fibroblast cells and an amount of cell increased up to 138% when compare with unmodified the poly HIPE. Moreover, the PSS modified poly HIPE also exhibited the highest efficiency of proliferation of the L929 fibroblast cells. Therefore, PSS modified poly HIPE was suitable for using in tissue engineering application.