Production and characterization of chitosan scaffolds doped with TiO2/akermanite for bone tissue applications

In this thesis, it is aimed to produce bioactive and biodegradable TiO2/akermanite doped chitosan tissue scaffolds by using three-dimensional bioprinting and freeze-drying methods and to evaluate the bone tissue formation potential of alternative composite scaffolds supporting bone regeneration. In the first part of the study, akermanite powders were produced by many methods and akermanite powders produced by spray drying and heat treatment at 1300 oC dual process methods were used in this study. TiO2 nanoparticles added to akermanite powders were synthesized by hydrothermal method. The chemical structure of all synthesized powders was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyzes. In artificial bone applications, the production of defect matching scaffolds is the most critical step. Three-dimensional printing (3DP) is one of the best techniques for special designs in artificial bone applications, especially because of its high controllability and design independence. In the next stage, chitosan tissue scaffolds containing different amounts of acermanite and TiO2 / akermanite developed for use in bone tissue applications were produced by using three-dimensional biomassing and then freeze-drying methods to obtain pore size control and homogeneous porosity distribution. It was observed that the pore structures of tissue scaffolds were within the observed limits. TiO2 and akermanite additions significantly affected the structure and mechanical strength of tissue scaffolds. Produced macro and microporous tissue scaffolds were kept in simulated body fluid (SBF) for a while to evaluate their biocompatibility and bioactivity. Based on the data obtained, the composite tissue scaffolds produced showed excellent biocompatibility and bioactivity. As a result, it is thought that TiO2 additive improves the mechanical properties of akermanite and akermanite additive provides biodegradability and bioactivity to chitosan tissue scaffoldings and tissue scaffolds produced by three-dimensional biomassing can be used as an alternative structure for bone tissue applications.