Novel Sr<inf>5</inf>(PO<inf>4</inf>)<inf>2</inf>SiO<inf>4</inf>-graphene nanocomposites for applications in bone regeneration in vitro

Abstract

This work mainly focused on the development of novel nanocomposites with combination of strontium phosphosilicates (SPS: Sr5(PO4)2SiO4) and graphene (G) for bone regeneration applications. Firstly, we have adopted the sol-gel method to synthesize the rod shaped nanosized SPS powder using CTAB as a surface morphology directing agent. Secondly, we have attempted a new approach to grow the graphene on the nanosized SPS by chemical vapour deposition technique, whereas SPS acts as self catalyst for the generation of graphene. The Raman analysis proved the existence of graphene with a few layers in G@SPS nanocomposites. The XPS confirms the presence of sp2 hybridized carbon atoms in graphene by detecting peak position at 284.4 eV. In vitro apatite study demonstrates the deposition of needle like shaped amorphous apatite layer on G@SPS. The 50–250 µg/ml of G@SPS were assessed to examine its in vitro cytocompatibility behaviour using mBMSCs and found to stimulation of cell proliferation. The G@SPS possesses relative alkaline phosphatase activity, calcium deposition and osteogenic differentiation ability. Also, G@SPS shown no toxicity on HUVECs and significantly encouraged the cell proliferation. Therefore, this finding provides the development of G@SPS nanocomposites with improved biological properties can acts potential candidate for future bone tissue engineering applications.