Novel method of preparing hydroxyapatite foams

Porous scaffolds are considered a key strategy in the concept of bone tissue engineering. Hydroxyapatite, which is a bioceramic has been used as a popular scaffold material due to its bioactive and osteoconductive properties. A combination of slurry-dipping and electrospraying has been used as a new foam fabrication method to produce porous and interconnected foam structures. The combined method has shown to overcome the shortcomings of the individual methods and it has produced open pores in the desired range of 100–350 μm. The porosity which was determined by calculation and microtomography was between 84% and 88%. Reduced cracks and thicker struts were observed in the microstructure, pointing to improved mechanical properties.