Rapid Fabrication of MgNH(4)PO(4)·H(2)O/SrHPO(4) Porous Composite Scaffolds with Improved Radiopacity via 3D Printing Process

Although bone repair scaffolds are required to possess high radiopacity to be distinguished from natural bone tissues in clinical applications, the intrinsic radiopacity of them is usually insufficient. For improving the radiopacity, combining X-ray contrast agents with bone repair scaffolds is an effective method. In the present research, MgNH(4)PO(4)·H(2)O/SrHPO(4) 3D porous composite scaffolds with improved radiopacity were fabricated via the 3D printing technique. Here, SrHPO(4) was firstly used as a radiopaque agent to improve the radiopacity of magnesium phosphate scaffolds. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to characterize the phases, morphologies, and element compositions of the 3D porous composite scaffolds. The radiography image showed that greater SrHPO(4) contents corresponded to higher radiopacity. When the SrHPO(4) content reached 9.34%, the radiopacity of the composite scaffolds was equal to that of a 6.8 mm Al ladder. The porosity and in vitro degradation of the porous composite scaffolds were studied in detail. The results show that magnesium phosphate scaffolds with various Sr contents could sustainably degrade and release the Mg, Sr, and P elements during the experiment period of 28 days. In addition, the cytotoxicity on MC3T3-E1 osteoblast precursor cells was evaluated, and the results show that the porous composite scaffolds with a SrHPO(4) content of 9.34% possessed superior cytocompatibility compared to that of the pure MgNH(4)PO(4)·H(2)O scaffolds when the extract concentration was 0.1 g/mL. Cell adhesion experiments showed that all of the scaffolds could support MC3T3-E1 cellular attachment well. This research indicates that MgNH(4)PO(4)·H(2)O/SrHPO(4) porous composite scaffolds have potential applications in the bone repair fields.