Modification of Hydroxyapatite/gelatin Nanocomposite with the Addition of Chondroitin Sulfate

In the preparation of hydroxyapatite(HAp)/gelatin(GEL) nanocomposite, GEL matrix was modified by the introduction of chondroitin sulfate(ChS) to obtain a strongly organized composite body. The formation reaction of the HAp/GEL-ChS nanocomposite was then investigated via XRD, DT/TGA, FT-IR, TEM and SEM. The organic-inorganic interaction between HAp nanocrystallites and GEL molecules was confirmed from DT/TGA and FT-IR. According to the DT/TGA results, the exothermal temperature zone between 300 and $550^{\circ}C$ showed an additional peak temperature that indicated the decomposition of the combined organics of the GEL and ChS. From the FT-IR analysis, calcium phosphate(Ca-P) was covalently bound with the GEL macromolecules modified by ChS. From TEM and ED, the matrix of the GEL-ChS molecules was mineralized by HAp nanocrystallites and the dense dried nanocomposite body was confirmed from SEM micrographs.