Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/colsurfb Efect of incorporation of montmorillonite on Xylan/Chitosan conjugate scafold Asif Ali a , Saleheen Bano a , Satish S. Poojary b , Dhruv Kumar b , Yuvraj Singh Negi a, ⁎ a Department of Polymer and Process Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Saharanpur Campus, Saharanpur, India b Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, India ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Maillard reaction Xylan Chitosan Montmorillonite ABSTRACT The present study reports the fabrication of Xylan/Chitosan/Montmorillonite (MMT) composite scafold by freeze drying process with the aim of achieving improved properties for bone tissue engineering applications. The scafolds were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray difraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mechanical testing. The fabricated scafolds were found to be highly porous with variations in pore size (102 μm–290 μm) on varying the fller concentration. XRD study revealed complete exfoliation of MMT incorporated in polymer conjugates (Xylan/Chitosan) prepared by Maillard re- action. In-vitro bio-mineralization study revealed signifcant apatite deposition on polymer matrix. Scafolds with 5% MMT concentration exhibited needle like morphology of deposited apatite which can further provide synergistic response in increasing the mechanical properties of scafolds when placed in contact with body fuid. The average length and thickness of apatite needles were calculated to be 140 μm and 1.2 μm respectively. The deposited apatite crystals on scafold with 2% MMT content demonstrated Ca/P ratio of 1.67, resembling that of natural bone apatite. Swelling and biodegradation behavior of scafold were also studied with regard to hy- drophilic and barrier efect of MMT on composites. MTT assay revealed non-cytotoxic nature of scafold with good cell viability. 1. Introduction Bone tissue engineering has been one of the major research hotspot in the feld of regenerative medicine since decades; however signifcant success in this regard is still awaited [1]. Compliance issues, post-op- erative complications and success of implantation have been the topic of major concern. Hence a vast search of biomaterials for bone grafts is still in progress in order to improve healing potential with respect to time, age group, health and site of injury. Bone substitutes may range from bio inert metallic implants and sponges to self regenerating matrix such as decellularised body tissues and polymeric scafolds. Since properties of polymers can easily be tuned by fller incorporation, functionalization, blending with other polymers and various processing techniques hence they are under constant research to develop an ideal material for tissue engineering constructs. Chitosan, Cellulose, Alginate, Gelatin, Poly Lactic Acid, Poly Vinyl Alcohol, Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone etc. are some most common biomimetic polymers used for Scafold fabri- cation [2–5]. Chitosan (CS) has received much attention in biomaterial research because of its high cell proliferation tendency, abundant supply from food chain and cost efectiveness [6]. It is obtained by deacetylation of chitin. This linear polysaccharide is semi crystalline in nature having n- acetyl glucosoamine and glucosoamine units [7]. The amino and hy- droxyl groups in CS enables it to form stable covalent and ionic inter- action with other molecules and are also responsible for site selective chemical modifcations [8]. It also possesses antibacterial, antifungal and mucoadhesive properties with high rate of biodegradation [1] and has proven to be biocompatible having structural similarity to glyco- soaminoglycans (GAG), an important component of Extracellular ma- trix (ECM) of bone and cartilage [6]. Xylan (X) is a hemicellulose abundantly found in the secondary cell walls of perennial plants [9]. Reports have shown its use for enhance- ment of the strength properties of cellulosic fber networks. It has found its application as food packaging materials, foams and hydrogels for drug delivery system [10]. Xylan is also known to show im- munomodulatory and bone healing tendency in animals [11]. Nano-clays i.e. (MMT) are synthetic alumino silicate nano-platelets having layered structure and are most commonly used as fller in hybrid materials for increasing mechanical properties [12]. Most of the studies show that at low fller content(less than 5%) they possess extremely https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2019.04.032 Received 30 November 2018; Received in revised form 21 March 2019; Accepted 15 April 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Polymer and Process Engineering, IIT Roorkee, Saharanpur Campus, Uttar Pradesh, India. E-mail address: ynegifpt@iitr.ac.in (Y.S. Negi). Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 180 (2019) 75–82 Available online 16 April 2019 0927-7765/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T