Effect of Negatively Charged Amino Acid and Nanohydroxyapatite Concentrations on The Surface Hydrophilicity of PVA Nanofiber Scaffolds
Rohul Rizki Mubaroq Hartman (a), Yessie Widya Sari (*a), Yusril Yusuf (b)

(a) Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Science, IPB University.
(b) Departement of Phyiscs, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Science, Gadjah Mada University

Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer with potential use in tissue engineering. However, its excessively high hydrophilicity potentially led to poor cell adhesion, thus limiting its suitability as a bone scaffold. This study investigates the modification of PVA nanofibers through the incorporation of amino acids (aspartic acid, glutamic acid) and nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) to tailor their hydrophilicity. Electrospun nanofiber composites of Asp/PVA/nHA and Glu/PVA/nHA fabricated with varying nHA concentration and their wettability evaluated through contact angle measurements. Higher nHA content was seen to increase the contact angles, whereby Asp/PVA/nHA and Glu/PVA/nHA with nHA concentration of 3.5 percent were within the ideal range for optimal cell adhesion and proliferation (around 40 to 70 degree). Samples containing Glu exhibited a lower hydrophilicity compared to their respective Asp-containing samples. Statistically significant differences in wettability (p less than 0.05) suggest that nHA and amino acids effectively modulate surface characteristics. These findings support the potential of fine-tuning PVA hydrophilicity via nHA and amino incorporation for improved performance in bone tissue engineering applications.

Keywords: Aspartic acid, Bone scaffold, Contact angle, Electrospinning, Glutamic acid

Topic: Medical Physics and Biophysics