Antibacterial and Cellular Behaviors of Novel Zinc-Doped Hydroxyapatite/Graphene Nanocomposite for Bone Tissue Engineering

Bacteria are one of the significant causes of infection in the body after scaffold implantation. Effective use of nanotechnology to overcome this problem is an exciting and practical solution. Nanoparticles can cause bacterial degradation by the electrostatic interaction with receptors and cell walls. Simultaneously, the incorporation of antibacterial materials such as zinc and graphene in nanoparticles can further enhance bacterial degradation. In the present study, zinc-doped hydroxyapatite/graphene was synthesized and characterized as a nanocomposite material possessing both antibacterial and bioactive properties for bone tissue engineering. After synthesizing the zinc-doped hydroxyapatite nanoparticles using a mechanochemical process, they were composited with reduced graphene oxide. The nanoparticles and nanocomposite samples were extensively investigated by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. Their antibacterial behaviors against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were studied. The antibacterial properties of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles were found to be improved more than 2.7 and 3.4 times after zinc doping and further compositing with graphene, respectively. In vitro cell assessment was investigated by a cell viability test and alkaline phosphatase activity using mesenchymal stem cells, and the results showed that hydroxyapatite nanoparticles in the culture medium, in addition to non-toxicity, led to enhanced proliferation of bone marrow stem cells. Furthermore, zinc doping in combination with graphene significantly increased alkaline phosphatase activity and proliferation of mesenchymal stem cells. The antibacterial activity along with cell biocompatibility/bioactivity of zinc-doped hydroxyapatite/graphene nanocomposite are the highly desirable and suitable biological properties for bone tissue engineering successfully achieved in this work.

The microstructure of the rapidly solidified foil of the hypoeutectic alloy Sn – 4.4 wt. % Zn

The article presents the results of a study of the microstructure of the rapidly solidified foil of the hypoeutectic alloy Sn – 4.4 wt. % Zn. It was found that the investigated alloy has a two-phase structure, which consists of solid solutions of tin and zinc. Doping of tin with zinc leads to a decrease in the unit cell parameter. The difference between the unit cell parameters of a rapidly solidified alloy in comparison with an alloy of pure tin tends to decrease during holding, which is due to strong supercooling of the melt during its production at ultrahigh speeds, and the formation of a supersaturated solid solution of zinc in tin, which, due to high homological temperatures, as a consequence, active diffusion processes, decomposes at room temperature. It has been established that a microcrystalline structure is formed in the foil of the alloy under study, in the cross section of which there are uniformly distributed equiaxed dispersed dark zinc precipitates against the background of a light tin matrix; the absence of zinc plates in the foil reduces the ability to brittle fracture. The unequal distribution of the average chord of random secants on the grains in the surface layers A is caused by the release of heat, which leads to a decrease in the supercooling of the subsequent layers of the melt, and an increase in the grain size as the crystallisation front moves. It was found that in the (301) plane along the [103] direction, tin twinning is observed, which occurs under the action of quenching stresses at high crystallisation rates. The alloy under study has a (100) tin texture, the formation of which is associated with the fact that the (100) plane is the most densely packed, which promotes the growth of grains with this orientation at the highest rate.