CHARACTERIZATION OF THREE DIMENSIONAL SCAFFOLDS FROM LOCAL CHITOSAN/ALGINATE/GEOTHERMAL SILICA FOR POTENTIAL TISSUE ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

Biocomposite scaffolds can be used to repair bone damage caused by accident or illness. As natural polymers, chitosan and alginate have been widely used for biocomposite applications. However, chitosan-based biocomposites have low mechanical strength. In Indonesia, geothermal power plants produce silica sludge as industrial waste containing around 50% amorphous silica. In this study, geothermal silica was purified and incorporated into chitosan-based scaffolds via a lyophilized method. In addition to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis, physical properties such as gelation, swelling ratio, and mechanical strength were analysed to assess the effects of the geothermal silica. The presence of silica was found to decrease the swelling ability in the biocomposites and increase mechanical strength. The highest mechanical strength was achieved at composition ratio of chitosan:alginate:geothermal silica = 1:1:1. Scanning electron microscopy analysis confirmed that the silica addition resulted in larger interconnected pores in scaffolds, which help increase cell infiltration and nutrient absorption for cell growth. Larger pores may have contributed to the decrease in swelling ability of the biocomposites while silica contributed to stronger structure under wet condition. The biocompsites did not show any indication of cytotoxicity on mammalian cell culture systems. Results of this study shed light on the potential of industrial waste as raw materials for tissue engineering applications